50 Years Gone
by chissprincess
Summary: When Yuuri returns to Shin Makoku after being gone for 50 years, he discovers a lot of changes: a new Maou, a deadly disease, a new war. What happened while he was gone, and why has he returned now? WolfxOC, GunterxGwendal
1. Chapter 1

Hello all, thanks for stopping in. This being the first chapter, I have a quick set of author's notes to post, and then we can get on with the story.

**Title: **50 Years Gone

**Rating: T**. Some violence, some swearing, no sex, a nasty disease.

**Summary: **When Yuuri returns to Shin Makoku after being gone for 50 years, he discovers a lot of changes - a new Maou, a deadly disease, a new war. What happened while he was gone, and why has he returned now? AU, WolfxOC, GunterxGwendal

**Warnings:** This story takes place in an alternate universe and contains some original characters. It also contains a slash pairing, though that pairing isn't the main focus of the story.  
Don't say I didn't warn you, because...well...I did. Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome-- I want to improve my writing -- so please leave a review!

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**Chapter 1: Puddles and Meetings**

"Yuuri, are you even listening to me?"

Yuuri Shibuya, son of Shoma and Hama no Jennifer, brother of Shouri, former fiancé of Wolfram, and current typical Japanese salary man, raised his head and blinked his huge black eyes at the man across from him. Ken Murata, his long-time friend and companion on many adventures, gave him a slightly sour look. "Sorry, Murata. I was distracted."

"Hmm, I know. Thinking about Shin Makoku again?"

Yuuri hesitated, then nodded and glanced down at his hands, clasped around the small cup of steaming green tea on the table before him. "Always, Murata. It's been ten years, you'd think I could forget or stop worrying, but…I always wonder how they are."

Murata adjusted his glasses and leaned forward. "I'm sure they're fine. They probably miss you, but they're resourceful people. Do you really think Conrad or Gunter or Gwendal would just let Shin Makoku fall apart?"

"I suppose not," the former Maou said. But somehow, he didn't feel any better.

"Of course not!" Murata said firmly. "Now, Yuuri, you really should get your mind off this…Akiko's cousin is coming to visit tomorrow, you should meet her. Everyone says she's quite the beauty."

Yuuri shook his head slowly. Murata might have acquired a steady girlfriend in the last few years, but Yuuri himself had never really bothered to look. Plenty of girls had approached him, but for some reason he had always turned them down (gently, of course). Murata had other ideas for his friend, and it seemed like every week his girlfriend Akiko had a new sister, cousin, friend, or coworker who was pretty and sweet and would be perfect for Yuuri. And every week Yuuri found himself making excuses as to why he wouldn't go meet said latest sister, cousin, friend, or coworker. He was getting rather tired of this game. Shouldn't a former Great Sage like Murata have more important things to worry about?

"Yuuri," Murata chided. "How do you plan on finding a nice wife this way?"

Yuuri shrugged and Murata sighed, finally giving up his quest to find Yuuri the perfect girl -- for the moment, at least. They sipped their tea in silence for a bit, then Yuuri yawned and stretched. "I'm so tired," he muttered. "All this rain is getting to me."

They both turned to look out the nearby window and watched the rain pour down from the dark, angry clouds overhead. It had been raining like this for much of the week, and some parts of the city had reported flooding. Everyone was sick of the rain.

Murata nodded, his somewhat shaggy black hair swaying a bit. "It's very strange," he said. "But you should go home and get some rest, Yuuri. I'll see you tomorrow."

Yuuri nodded and gathered his things, making sure to have his umbrella handy before waving to his friend and venturing out into the downpour outside. He grumbled miserably to himself, glaring up at the clouds before finally opening his umbrella and stepping out into the street, doing his best to avoid the puddles and miniature rivers in his way. It didn't help, really -- he still got wet. But his apartment wasn't too far from here, and he would be able to change his clothes before he knew it.

Well, that had been the plan, anyway. Unfortunately for Yuuri, the universe had other ideas that day. He began the trek up the long hill leading towards his apartment complex, and had actually made it almost all the way to the top when a small calico cat darted in front of him. This normally wouldn't be cause for alarm -- Yuuri had nothing against cats -- except that he hadn't noticed the cat before and its sudden appearance so close to his feet startled him.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, jumping back a bit as the cat trotted past. But the jump hadn't been such a smart move. His foot landed on a small, smooth, slippery stone on the sidewalk, and before he knew it he was falling face-first into a huge, muddy puddle…

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Yuuri spluttered and struggled and finally managed to sit up, spitting out a mouthful of mud-filled water and wiping some gritty muck from his eyes. This was _not_ how he had planned to spend his afternoon. With a long-suffering sigh, he finally managed to open his eyes and blink at his surroundings.

He was most certainly not in Tokyo anymore.

The young man was sitting in the middle of an old, broken-down fountain. The water appeared fresh enough, so he guessed it must be water from a recent rain storm -- whatever water had once run through this fountain was long gone. Not that it would have mattered, really, as the fountain heads were all broken and lay in small piles around the pool where he lay. The garden surrounding the fountain looked overgrown, as though it hadn't been tended for years. And beyond that, the walls of the once-majestic building surrounding this courtyard garden were crumbling. Yuuri strongly suspected that someone had attacked the building and helped the process of decay along.

He rolled over a bit so that he was kneeling in the water and began splashing it over his face and hair in an attempt to rid himself of the last of the mud. The activity also gave him some time to think. It seemed that, for the first time in ten years, he had traveled through time and space to arrive in another world. But was this place really Shin Makoku? Yuuri certainly didn't remember any crumbling buildings from his time as Maou. At least, he had never before arrived in the courtyard of a crumbling building. A wine barrel once, yes (and that had been highly unusual), but never an old, crumbling courtyard. Plus, there was almost always someone to greet him upon his return to Shin Makoku. So perhaps he wasn't in Shin Makoku at all. But if not his old kingdom, than what _was_ this place?

Climbing carefully out of the fountain, Yuuri took another look around the courtyard and shivered in the cool air. He looked up at the sky, noticing the pink and orange color of the clouds in the otherwise clear sky, indicating that it was evening. Which meant that he wouldn't have much time to find out where he was or where he could stay, if he kept dawdling here. He made quick work of finding a way out of the courtyard (though, much to his dismay, it seemed that the only way out was to go _into_ the crumbling building) and began carefully picking his way through the thick weeds, uneven paving stones, and various-sized rocks and boulders scattered all over. The door he was aiming for didn't open at first, but he finally managed to wrench it open with a loud creak of old wood and a shriek from rusted hinges. There was no hope of shutting the door again, so he just left it and stepped into the building, looking around. The whole place was strangely familiar, as though he had been there before…it was a disturbing feeling.

Under normal circumstance, Yuuri would have found the nearest exit as quickly as he could and left the old, crumbling building without another look back. But somehow, he felt like that would be the wrong thing to do in this situation, and he turned his attention to exploring the place a little instead. Heading deeper into the building, he felt stranger and stranger every second and couldn't shake the feeling that he _knew_ this place, in almost the same way that he _knew_ his childhood home or his old school or his current apartment. It felt like he could just close his eyes and keep walking and find anything he wanted in the building with no problem at all.

It felt like he had memories here.

On a whim, he closed his eyes, stretched his hands out in front of him, and slowly walked down the long hall he had entered from the courtyard. He stumbled over some loose stones and rocks lying around, and every so often his foot would land on something that crunched or snapped under his weight (he really didn't want to know what), but he just kept going. And then, without warning, he walked right into a wall. Or rather, a door -- the walls around here were all stone but he was obviously touching wood. He ran his hands over the wood before him, searching for some sign of where he was, but aside from a few painful splinters the wooden panel didn't give anything away. Finally tiring of his little game, Yuuri cracked his dark eyes and squinted at the wood.

He stared. This door was so familiar…"No. No, this must be a mistake," he muttered. A couple of steps to the left centered him in front of the large double doors, and he planted his hands firmly (one on each door) and gave one good push. That was enough to make the doors creak open, leaving a space for Yuuri to look through. He didn't have to do anything else. The room beyond the doors, so big and empty the sound of his breathing echoed harshly through it, was a room he would have recognized no matter what.

This was Shinou's Temple.

But it was in ruins.

What in the world had happened in Shin Makoku?

"Ulrike!" Yuuri shouted, backing away from the doors and turning to peer down the darkened hallways around him. "Hey, Ulrike-sama! Are you here? Is anybody here?" In his heart, though, he already knew the answer. If Ulrike and her subordinates were here, they would have greeted him the moment he arrived in the fountain. Not only was Shinou's Temple crumbling around him, but its former inhabitants had vanished. Something simply was not right here. Yuuri nodded and ran back the way he had come, intent on finding his way out (not a problem now that he knew exactly where he was). He had to find someone who could tell him what was going on, and that meant a trip to the other place he knew as well as his home in Japan -- Blood Pledge Castle. Surely someone there would have the answers he needed.

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The road to Blood Pledge Castle was much longer than Yuuri remembered and lined with far more ruined buildings and dead trees than he remembered, and before he was even half-way to the castle, it was nearly dark. Somehow, he felt that showing up at the castle's gates just after nightfall, claiming to have come from the ruins of Shinou's Temple, would be a Very Bad Idea. On the other hand, the issue would be cleared up very quickly, he was certain. He was, after all, the former Maou. Surely the guards would recognize him. And if they didn't surely Conrad or Wolfram or Greta or any of his other friends would come to his aide. Wow, it would be nice to see them again…Greta would probably be all grown up by now…Conrad might have found himself a spouse…Wolfram would be -- well, Yuuri kind of hoped Wolfram wouldn't have changed too much. He had never realized just how much he cared for the blond until they had been separated for several months, with no way for Yuuri to get back. He wanted one last chance to see the old Wolfram.

He was so lost in thought as he made his way down the winding dirt road that he barely noticed the sound of horses' hooves pounding the packed dirt ahead of him. But the sound did eventually work its way through the fog of his memories and forced him to take notice. He raised his head at squinted into the growing darkness before him, just in time to see at least seven horses and their riders round the bend and come charging towards him. His instincts took over, and he wheeled around, preparing to run out of the way, but his foot caught a protruding rock and for the second time that day, he found himself headed for a painful meeting with the ground. He only hoped it wouldn't be followed by a painful meeting with horses' hooves.

The riders were too skilled to let their mounts trample Yuuri, however, and he looked up once more to see the animals circling around him, as though circling a captive. _Wait, what? I'm Yuuri! There must be a mistake…_

"Who are you? What business do you have here?" a voice demanded. It was somewhat muffled and sounded as though it was filtered through some sort of mask, so that Yuuri couldn't tell if a man or woman had spoken. Well, this was certainly an interesting development.

"I'm Yuuri Shibuya! The Maou of Shin Makoku!" He struggled to his feet and gave the seven riders his most imposing black-eyed glare. "Who are all of you?" he added.

His pronouncement was met by silence, followed almost instantly by raucous laughter that ended almost as abruptly as it began. Yuuri had no idea what to make of that, and took a few steps back in surprise before feeling the sharp tip of a sword digging into the flesh between his shoulder blades.

"Very funny," the questioner said. In front of him, a somewhat smaller than average figure slipped off a large, black horse and stalked towards him, sword drawn and pointed right at his heart. That rapidly-fading daylight made it impossible for Yuuri to make out any other details about the person, who was swathed in layers of thick, dark material and whose face was hidden by a dark mask. "The Maou wouldn't be out and about at this time of night…and you certainly aren't the Maou anyway. Did you come from the Temple?"

"Er…yes…"

The figure nodded sharply, and the circle of riders shifted, allowing two of their number to come up on either side of Yuuri. Both reached down and grabbed his biceps, squeezing hard enough to bruise. "Then you are a problem," the questioner continued.

"We should take him to the Castle for questioning!" a man exclaimed.

"That might be dangerous," another man said. "What if he's a spy?"

"A spy for whom?" the original questioner asked. "He came from Shinou's Temple. His arrival created a strange disturbance. We should be cautious, of course…but we do need to question him. You!" the figure jerked the sword to indicate the man to Yuuri's right. "Carry him to the Castle. There's no time to lose."

Before Yuuri could say anything, he had been hoisted onto the back of a strange horse and tucked firmly against a stranger's torso. "Make a wrong move, and I'll send your soul to hell," the man breathed in Yuuri's ear. "Unless our leader there gets to you first, that is," he added, as though commenting on the lovely night sky. Yuuri paled, but didn't have any time to protest, as his captors rode off into the night, taking him with them.


	2. Changes in the Castle

Well, I'm not going to be around later today, so I figured I'd post a new chapter now. Thanks to my reviewers and to the folks who have already added this to their favorites list -- hope you keep enjoying it! And remember, everyone, reviews are always welcome :)

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**Chapter 2: Changes in the Castle**

By the time they made it through the heavily-fortified (and yet rather run-down-looking) main gates at Blood Pledge Castle, Yuuri had come to two conclusions. The first was that he definitely needed to either get used to riding horses again, or find a better way to travel around Shin Makoku now that he was back. The second, more urgent of the two was that these people really didn't believe him when he said he was the Maou, and it didn't seem that they were just arguing over a technicality, either. In fact, they seemed to have no clue who he was. Not even his name had gotten their attention -- his repeated attempts at telling them that he was Yuuri Shibuya had just earned him a sharp jab from his current guard and a gruff order to shut up from the group's leader. Yuuri could understand not being treated as well as when he had actually been the Maou, but this was a bit much, at least in his mind. Little did Yuuri know that it was about to get worse.

They arrived at the Castle without any fuss or fanfare to greet them (Yuuri felt a twinge of disappointment that there was no Gunter rushing to greet him with his plaintive and somewhat desperate cry of "Heika!") and Yuuri was roughly pulled from his horse. His guard turned out to be a tall, hulking man who would have made even Yozak look a bit dainty. He was none too gentle either, and Yuuri winced when the man's hands closed around his already-bruised arms with a vice-like grip. "Are we bringing him to the throne room now?" the guard asked.

"No," the group leader replied. "Too much else going on. He goes in the dungeon for now."

"What?" Yuuri exclaimed. "You can't put me in the dungeon! I'm --"

"The Maou. Yes, we heard you the first time, and the second time, and every time after that." The rather small being that was the leader of this pack of guards sauntered towards him, bringing the masked face within inches of his own. "Just because you keep saying it doesn't make it true. We'll deal with you later. But right now, there are more pressing issues. Take him away!" And with that, the figure swept off towards the entrance to the castle, while Yuuri's guard and one of his companions dragged the young man in the other direction, to the Castle's dungeons. Yuuri had never been down there before. In his time as Maou, the dungeons had never been used, and Gunter saw no reason to include said dungeons in his lessons or Castle tours. He had mentioned them once, in reference to the large number of prisoners kept there during a massive war far in the past, but that was it. Yuuri was not looking forward to becoming more acquainted with the place.

To his relief, he was the only prisoner there. To his horror, the place was pitch-black, dank, stank of mildew and the scent of filth that someone had struggled to clean away but had never managed to completely get rid of, and appeared to be filled with rats. Yuuri normally liked rats. Well, the ones sold in pet stores, anyway. They were clean and cute and tended to be friendly. But dungeon rats were a whole other matter entirely. His time as Maou had taught him that many of the animals in this world were very different from their counterparts on Earth. He sincerely hoped that would be the case with the dungeon rats.

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Three days of darkness, dampness, coldness, terrible food (when he had any at all), no baths, and fending off dungeon rats later, Yuuri's captor appeared, followed by two of the hulking men who had been in the group that found him. Said captor was still swathed in layers of velvety fabric and had a mask firmly in place, making it impossible for Yuuri to tell if he was dealing with a man or a woman. At this point, though, he didn't really care. He just wanted out of the dungeon, and it looked like he was about to get his wish.

"You. Come with us. Time for you to be questioned."

Yuuri scrambled to his feet as the leftmost guard removed a ring of jangling keys from his belt and opened his cell. The masked figure beckoned for Yuuri to follow, adding, "Don't try anything clever. I am very well trained in the use of swords and in the use of my own special majutsu, and I will not hesitate to use either on you."

"Er, right," Yuuri said, gulping a bit. "Where exactly are we going?"

"To the throne room. You will be questioned there." The trip took place in silence, with Yuuri's guards holding his arms loosely (as though to remind him of what they could do if provoked) and his captor leading the way. When they emerged into the sunlight, Yuuri had to blink and squint for a bit before his eyes adjusted. Finally, though, he was able to get a better look at the small figure walking assuredly before him. The velvet covering the person's body was a deep midnight blue, though the belt holding the sword had a few silver buckles here and there to break up the color scheme. When the figure turned to look at Yuuri and make sure he was behaving, he noticed a few strategically placed marks of silver and grey on the mask as well. It would have been pretty, he supposed, had it not been connected to the one responsible for throwing him in the dungeon and making him so nervous.

The finally arrived at the heavy and familiar throne room doors, which the cloaked figure pushed open with ease before leading the way inside. "He's here, Mother. The man who claims to be the Maou."

Someone inside the room snorted, and Yuuri looked up in the hopes of seeing a familiar face. His guards let go of his arms, their cloaked leader stepped aside and began fiddling with something near the mask, and Yuuri finally had a clear view of the room and its occupants. His eyes flew immediately to the throne, where he knew his successor would be sitting. His first thought was that surely Gwendal would be sitting there, as Gwendal was more than qualified to rule Shin Makoku. But then he remembered that his captor had mentioned a "Mother," and that Gwendal could be described as many things but "motherly" certainly wasn't one of them. And indeed, Gwendal was nowhere near the throne. On either side of the throne stood two young woman, both tall and slender, both with fiery brown eyes, but one with hair of a deep, rich brown and the other with hair like gold. They frowned at Yuuri with identical looks of incredulousness. The woman sitting on the throne between them was definitely showing signs of being just past middle age, but she was also the kind of woman who wore her age well. Each tiny wrinkle and grey hair made her look just that much more regal and beautiful. Yuuri suspected that, even without her thin golden circlet, her elaborate black gown, and her obvious ease in the throne, he would have pegged her as nobility at the very least. Somehow, the fact that she was his successor didn't surprise him. Beside her sat a young man, his long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and his brown eyes (so much like the Maou's eyes and the eyes of the women flanking her) fixed on Yuuri's face as though it contained the answers to all the questions in the world. Though he was sitting, Yuuri guessed he would be about average height, and he looked rather muscular.

And then, finally, a familiar face. Standing behind the brown-haired man, arms crossed over his chest, sparkling green eyes glaring daggers at Yuuri, was one of the men the young former Maou had wanted to see with all his heart for years. "Wolfram!" Yuuri shouted, and without a second thought he leaped forward and ran towards the other man.

His impetuousness nearly cost him his life, for he had been so distracted by the sight of his former fiancé that he had forgotten about his captor, who had vanished off to the side. But the velvet-clad figure suddenly appeared before him again, mask clutched in one hand and sword brandished in the other, the lethal tip a mere millimeter from Yuuri's bare throat. He barely had time to register the brilliant green eyes and tumble of rich, loose brown curls falling over the cloaked shoulders before his hulking guards tackled him to the ground. The room was filled with shouts of "The bastard's attacking the Prince!" and "Get the Maou out of here!" and even "Dammit Odelia, I can take care of myself!" before a new pair of hands found Yuuri's arms and yanked him out of the pile.

"QUIET!" Someone shouted from near the throne. Silence fell on the room, broken only by Yuuri's labored gasps. That voice had sounded familiar…

"You alright, kid?" Another voice, also familiar, coming from the person holding his arms. Yuuri looked up, and as the new person let go of his arms he took a step back in shock. The face was lined, the hair's brilliant orange color had dulled and was slowly turning grey, but there could be no mistaking his old friend.

"Yozak!" Yuuri exclaimed. "What…why…I'm so confused…"

"As are we." Yuuri looked up towards the throne to see who had spoken, and felt his breath hitch in his chest. Yozak was showing signs of his age, certainly, but he still looked healthy. This speaker, though…Yuuri thought he was Gwendal, but had he not just heard the man speak he would have been hard pressed to reach that conclusion. Gwendal seemed to have shrunk since Yuuri last saw him. His skin had taken on a terrible pallor, and his hair (once almost as dark as Yuuri's) was heavily streaked with white.

"Gwendal…" he whispered.

"Are you sure it's him, Yozak?" Gwendal asked, ignoring Yuuri's words for the moment.

"I don't care what Yozak thinks," a woman's voice interrupted. "I'm certain it's Yuuri. He hasn't changed much in all these years, has he?"

The woman stepped into view, and this time Yuuri was sure his heart skipped a beat or two. She was much taller than he remembered, a little on the heavy side, and her thick and wavy hair was just a bit longer, but Yuuri could still see the little girl he had known in her eyes. "Greta? My goodness, you've grown up…"

"Well of course she has. You've been gone a very long time, and things have changed a lot in all those years."

Everyone turned their attention to the latest speaker, the woman on the throne, who was watching Yuuri with great curiosity on her noble features. She rose and left the throne, gliding down the steps and coming to stand before Yuuri.

Yuuri studied the somewhat short woman for a moment, then let his eyes dart to Gwendal, Yozak, and the young men and woman gathered in a knot beside the throne. His captor -- apparently a woman, and apparently named Odelia according to the Wolfram look-a-like -- looked rather annoyed. The others just looked curious and a little confused.

"How…how long have I been away, exactly?" Yuuri finally asked.

"Too long," Greta said.

"Fifty years, to be exact," Gwendal added.

"Oh, I see. Not too long at all, then," Yuuri said before fainting dead away.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Yuuri woke up to a terrible, strong smell assaulting his nose, and he jerked away from it before even opening his eyes. He finally cracked his eyes open the tiniest bit possible and squinted up at Greta, who was leaning over him and waving the Shin Makoku version of smelling salts under his nose. "Ah, ok, I'm awake," Yuuri grumbled, reaching up and gently pushing her hand away before sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Are you alright?" Gwendal asked from behind him.

"Yeah, I think so." Yuuri blinked up at the sea of strange faces staring down at him. All of them, even Greta, were almost completely unreadable to him. Well, except for two…the young man who looked so much like Wolfram, and his velvet-clad captor whose name (if he had heard right) was Odelia. "Someone needs to explain what's going on, though." He looked around, expecting to see Gunter or Conrad, the people who would normally take charge of explaining strange things to him, but they were still nowhere to be seen. For that matter, Wolfram hadn't made an appearance, either… "Hey, Gwendal…where's everybody else?"

"I assume you're asking about Conrad, Gunter, Wolfram, and Cheri-sama," the older mazoku said. Yuuri noticed a tinge of sadness in Gwendal's voice, but before he could say anything, the other man continued on. "Gunter, Conrad, and Gunter's daughter Gisela left on a mission two years ago, and have not yet returned. Wolfram is very ill at the moment. Cheri-sama…Cheri-sama is dead."

Yuuri blinked up at him, mouth wide open in shock. "What…dead…and Conrad…but…why?"

The sound of fabric rustling drew his attention to his other side, where the current Maou had come to kneel beside him. "Many things can happen in fifty years, Highness," she said. "When you left, this place was plunged into chaos. It was thought that the arrival of the new Maou -- of me -- would help things, and for a while that was the case. But within the past few years, things have taken a turn for the worse again, and we do not know what to do."

"But then, why am I here? I'm not Maou anymore…"

"You must be here to help us," Yozak said. "And trust me, kid, we need all the help we can get."

Yuuri shook his head in confusion. "I don't even really know what's wrong, though."

The Maou placed a hand on his shoulder. "You will. Tomorrow, I will explain everything to you. But for now, it is getting late. You can take a bath before bed, if you wish, and I can have my daughters bring you some food. We sent most of the servants back to their homes ages ago, but Ilaria and Idonea are quite good cooks when they put their minds to it." The blond and brunette women who had been standing by the throne both nodded. As though on cue, Yuuri's stomach rumbled, and the Maou gave him a small smile. "Right then. Ilaria, Idonea, the former Maou needs some food. Ahren," she continued, turning her attention to the brown-haired young man standing beside the two women, "please take his Highness to the bath, and make sure he has everything he needs. Elric, prepare a room for him." The blond who looked like Wolfram nodded and strode from the room, headed to who knew what part of the castle. "Oh, and Odelia, there's no need for you to remain on alert. Go get into something more comfortable."

As the man called Ahren took Yuuri's elbow and began leading him from the room, Yuuri took one last look at the young woman named Odelia. She was watching him with great curiosity on her pretty face, but Yuuri could still sense that she would be a dangerous one to mess with. He could only hope he wouldn't run into her again anytime soon.


	3. Wolfram

Ok, so, I usually don't update this fast. But since I might not be able to update again for a couple of days, I figured I could add the third chapter now without any problem. Another big thanks to my reviewers -- it's always encouraging to know that someone likes my writing. Enjoy the new chapter!

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**Chapter 3: Wolfram**

Unfortunately, Yuuri's wish didn't come true. Just as the current Maou had requested, Ahren led Yuuri to the bath and made sure he had soap, shampoo, towels, and some clean clothes to change into after bathing, then left the still rather confused former Maou to his own devices. Yuuri didn't dawdle in the bath -- Ilaria and Idonea were making him dinner, and he didn't want to let his food get cold. He stepped out of the bathing pool, dried, and dressed himself in the black pants and green tunic Ahren had left for him before realizing that he had no idea where he was supposed to go when he was done here. Sure, he knew his way around the castle (assuming no major renovations had happened in the last half-century), but he didn't know if he was supposed to go to the dinning room or whatever room was being prepared for him. Yuuri stood there on the edge of the pool-like bathtub for a moment, pondering all of his options, before finally deciding to just head back to the throne room to see if anyone would be there and willing to tell him where to go.

Fortunately for Yuuri, he didn't have to go all the way back to the throne room to find a guide. There was one already waiting for him outside the bath. Unfortunately for Yuuri, his guide was the last person he wanted to see.

"Finished with your bath?" Odelia asked brusquely. Yuuri had to admit that he was surprised that such a proper-looking young woman could and would speak so roughly. Between his last look at her in the throne room and the moment he left the bath, it seemed that Odelia had had a chance to change into a simple, elegant lavender dress and to tame her hair into a smooth, dark ponytail that hung most of the way down her back. But the hardness hadn't left her eyes, and though she was shorter than Yuuri and appeared to be unarmed, he felt certain that a single misstep around her could spell doom.

"Umm…yes…" Yuuri replied hesitantly.

She nodded, then turned on her heel and headed off into the castle. "Come with me, then. I'll show you to your room."

They walked in silence until they arrived at Yuuri's room, just in time to see the women called Ilaria and Idonea leaving. The blond (Ilaria, Yuuri thought) gave them a brief nod and said, "Your dinner is ready," before they swept past Yuuri and his current guide. Odelia stepped aside long enough to let Yuuri pass, then followed him into the room and took up a spot by the window, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest in a distinctly challenging manner. At first, Yuuri did his best to ignore her while he ate, but he quickly discovered that it was almost impossible to do so. Her presence seemed to fill the room.

"So…you seemed very protective of that young man down in the throne room," he finally ventured, hoping to get some information out of her.

"Elric is my brother, and the closest to me in age. Ahren was injured in battle not too long ago, and Ilaria and Idonea are useless with swords. They're both too vain to have ever bothered learning to fight properly."

"Wait, so all of them are your siblings?" Yuuri asked. Odelia nodded. "Can't Elric fight?"

"Sure. But I, unlike my mother and Uncle Gwendal, don't believe you to be who you say you are. I'm not about to let you anywhere near my siblings if I can help it."

Yuuri blinked. This sounded very familiar…had it really been so long ago that Gwendal and Wolfram had not believe Conrad and Gunter when they claimed that Yuuri was the Maou? Apparently so, at least in this world. And then Odelia's words really registered. "Wait a minute. Uncle Gwendal? So your parents are --"

"My mother is the Maou. My father is Wolfram von Bielefeld. And if this country survives the next few years, everyone believes I will be the next Maou." She glared down at him with her emerald eyes, as though challenging him to dispute her claims.

"Why wouldn't the country survive the next few years?" Yuuri asked. His head was spinning, and he thought that only one thing could help -- more information, as much as Odelia and the others were able to give him.

She shrugged. "At the moment, the war and the disease are the main contenders for the title of 'disaster that causes Shin Makoku to fall.' Personally, I would put my money on the disease. Shin Makoku has been through wars before, and survived. But this disease is like nothing we have ever seen before. The war started because of it, too."

"Gwendal said Wolfram is sick. Does he have the disease you're talking about?"

Odelia turned away from Yuuri and stared out the window at the castle's moonlit courtyard. "Yes," she said softly.

Yuuri hesitated, then pushed his dinner tray aside, stood, and went to stand beside Odelia. "Can I see him? Please?"

"Why would you want to?" she whispered roughly. "If you are who you say you are, then you already abandoned him once."

"I didn't abandon him. I had no choice but to leave. It was the last portal out of here…Murata and Shouri and I had to leave, or we would never be able to go back to Earth, and that's where our families are."

Odelia looked back up at him, and Yuuri could see in her eyes that something had changed. "Murata? Shouri?"

"Yes. Ken Murata, the Great Sage. And my older brother Shouri, the current Maou of Earth."

She gave him a quizzical look, then closed her eyes and gave him a small smile. "Nobody has spoken of those two in your presence since you arrived here. I think I can let you see my father. But I will warn you, the disease has changed him. He doesn't look much like you would remember him."

"That doesn't matter," Yuuri said firmly. "I want to see him. He deserves at least that much from me."

"He probably will not be conscious," she added. "He hasn't been fully conscious in weeks."

Yuuri gulped a bit, but still nodded. "That's okay. I'll sit with him for a while anyway."

Odelia studied him for a second, then pushed herself away from the wall and headed out of the room in silence. Yuuri followed after her, and soon found himself in front of a pair of heavy, ornate double doors. Stealing himself for what he would see within, Yuuri pushed the right door open and slipped inside, glancing back at his guide as though seeking reassurance that he was doing the right thing. But she just watched him quietly. For once, she didn't look ready to pounce on him at a moment's notice. Somehow, that was comforting to Yuuri, who carefully closed the heavy door behind him so as not to wake Wolfram. Not that he really needed to worry about that. But he didn't realize it until he got a good look at the man lying on the bed.

Where Elric was the spitting image of Wolfram as Yuuri remembered him, the man on the bed had barely any resemblance to the Wolfram Yuuri had known. As a Mazoku, Wolfram shouldn't have aged all that much in fifty years. And yet, right now, he looked like he had aged so much…the first thing Yuuri noticed was the amount of weight he had lost. Wolfram's cheeks were sunken, his arms looked like they would snap under even the gentlest of touches. His skin, always pale before, now had a sickly grey cast to it, and had the appearance of thin paper stretched over the underlying bones and muscles. The once golden hair completely lacked any luster. Each breath the other man took wheezed and rattled and sounded to Yuuri as though it could very well be Wolfram's last. He had to admit, he was quite glad the other man was asleep. Yuuri didn't want to know what Wolfram's eyes would look like because of this disease, whatever it was. The basin on the bedside table revealed that the disease wasn't just ravaging Wolfram's appearance -- Yuuri couldn't quite tell in this light, but he was sure that the cloth sitting in the basin was stained with blood, which indicated to him that Wolfram was coughing up blood or having some nasty nosebleeds. Either way, something definitely wasn't right with that. He carefully pressed the backs of his fingers to Wolfram's cheek and winced at the high fever he felt there.

"Well, Wolfram," he murmured. "This doesn't look good at all, does it? What in the world is going on here? How am I supposed to fix this when I don't even know what's happening?"

He looked around, wondering if he should just sit on the edge of the bed or not, until his eyes fell on a chair nearby. Yuuri decided to move the chair closer to the bed, thus giving himself a more comfortable place to sit. This turned out to be one of his worse ideas, as the chair was rather heavy and he was huffing and puffing by the time he got it next to Wolfram's bed. But in the end, he decided that the effort was worth it. Settling himself into the chair, Yuuri turned his attention to watching over Wolfram and pondering the terrible situation his former kingdom seemed to be in. He was pretty sure he had been allowed to travel back to Shin Makoku to fulfill a particular mission. But what was that mission? He didn't know yet, because he didn't have enough information. All he knew was that there was a war and a disease, and that the two were connected. Unfortunately, nobody seemed willing to give him anymore information at the moment…or perhaps there was nothing else to give. Shaking his head sharply, Yuuri tried to push those thoughts from his mind and concentrate on Wolfram's well-being, but after about half an hour of fighting with himself over that, he gave up. He needed to do something other than watch the unconscious Wolfram struggle to breathe, so he got up and began a quiet exploration of the ornate bedroom. There wasn't a lot to explore here, really. Wolfram's clothes had never been of much interest to Yuuri, and since the wardrobe, dressing table, and a few assorted chairs and small tables seemed to be the only furniture in the room besides the bed and bedside table, Yuuri's exploration of the area was quickly completed.

He did, however, discover a second door in the room, which he pushed open cautiously. This door wasn't as heavy as the main door and opened with greater ease, revealing a small but well-appointed sitting room of sorts. Two more doors led out of the sitting room, and Yuuri decided to explore those next. The door on the right led to a large office, filled to bursting with a desk, a huge table, several chars, and innumerable charts, books, papers, and scrolls. Yuuri stepped up to the desk and studied some of the papers, struggling with the unfamiliar Mazoku writing system - apparently, lacking regular exposure to it for ten years of his own life wasn't conducive to maintaining an ability to read it. Even so, he was able to decipher several of the titles on the papers, and concluded that this must be the Maou's private office. Feeling certain that the current Maou wouldn't appreciate him poking into her private affairs (even if many of them were similar to the affairs Yuuri himself had once dealt with), he beat a hasty retreat back to the sitting room and decided to take a quick peek behind the other door he had seen there. That door led to a slightly smaller, much less cluttered office. Where the charts and papers in the previous office had dealt with issues important to all of Shin Makoku, the charts and papers here seemed to be specific to a particular region. A closer inspection revealed that they concerned the area controlled by the von Bielefeld family -- specifically, by Wolfram, or whoever was currently fulfilling his duties. _So, this is Wolfram's office,_ Yuuri thought. _I wonder if anything here can help me figure out what's going on…_

Yuuri made his way slowly and carefully around the room, examining the papers and maps and charts. He focused on understanding the titles on each paper, which proved to be a good system. Though he didn't find anything that seemed of use, it did serve as a good exercise for jogging his memory, and his ability to read mazoku writing got better and better with each title he read. Finally, he made his way to the desk, where the biggest bound book he had ever seen lay open, a feather quill balanced across the pages. He rounded the desk and stared down at the book, wondering what secrets it held, then gasped. The pages before him were empty! Yuuri pushed the quill aside and flipped to some of the later pages, but they too were blank. He was a bit bewildered and about to do something drastic, like tear a page out of the book and hold it over a candle to see if something had been written on it in invisible ink, when the rest of his brain finally caught up with him and made sense of his current observations. This probably wasn't some big secret book written entirely in invisible ink. In fact…Yuuri flipped back a few pages from the first blank ones, and discovered pages thick with Wolfram's elegant, almost delicate handwriting. He squinted at the page he was on, but his ability to read Mazoku writing wasn't up to the task of reading such tiny print in such dim light as this. He needed some more light, quickly. Back in the sitting room, he found some candles and (much to his surprise) a book of matches. Deciding for the moment that the origins of the matches weren't as important as the light they could give him, he struck one and quickly lit the candles in the candelabra he found, then carried it into Wolfram's office, set it on the desk, and flipped to the beginning of the diary. If he had any doubt that this was indeed Wolfram's diary, that doubt vanished when he got a look at the first entry.

_Why that…that…that WIMP had the sheer GALL to propose to me! Yes, that's right, he proposed to ME, Wolfram von Bielefeld, who most certainly deserves better than some horrid pretender to the throne! Must kill him in tomorrow's duel, it's the only way to repair the tattered shreds of my dignity._


	4. The Diary

So, this is where things get interesting style-wise. Those of you who've been wondering when Conrad and the others will show up and whether or not the story will stay depressing are about to get your answer, either in this chapter or the next one...sort of. I'm sorry this chapter is a bit on the short side. Consider it a bridge into the next part of the story. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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**Chapter 4: The Diary**

Yuuri stared down at the words before him. Yes, this was definitely Wolfram's diary. The vitriol of those early days was very familiar. Curious, Yuuri let his eyes wander down the page to the next entry…

_Maybe I was wrong. Maybe is IS the Maou. You should have seen him at the duel today…he took on a different appearance, and he was able to use majutsu! But in the end, he passed out, and hasn't woken up all day. Wimp. _

"Well it's not like I did it on purpose," Yuuri muttered. He flipped through the next several pages, occasionally stopping to read and reminisce about the past. Wolfram wasn't a very prolific journal writer, but he was faithful and made a note of events almost every day. There were a few long entries, of course. The day Yuuri officially adopted Greta had an entry that took up almost a full page of the massive book, and Wolfram took up at least a page and a half discussing Yuuri's parents and older brother following the trip to Earth. He hadn't been very impressed with Shouri at that time, and Yuuri wondered what Wolfram would have thought had he known that Shouri was the Maou of Earth now. And then, without warning, Yuuri stumbled across what he thought was a random blank page. He was just about to fly right past it when the tiny block of writing, resting in the very center of the page, caught his eye. Squinting a bit, he leaned closer to read the entry.

_We're going to fight the last battle tomorrow. Something terrible is going to happen, I just know it…and I'm certain it involves Yuuri. Is he going to die tomorrow? Oh god, I hope not. I don't know what I would do without that wimp around. He's not really so wimpy, though, is he? Taking on this final task is no easy thing, and yet, he is doing it because he must. But it's not just because he has to, it's because he genuinely cares, and wants to do the right thing. Dammit, Yuuri better not die tomorrow. What would I do without him here? I finally figured it out. I…I really do love him._

Yuuri swiped at his eyes, trying to keep from crying, and choked back a quiet sob. "Oh Wolfram, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I hurt you so much." He glanced up at the date on the entry, noting that it was indeed the day before he had left Shin Makoku forever. Slowly, as though afraid of what he would find, Yuuri turned the page. The entry there was short and fairly boring -- a report about the weather being terrible -- and was dated almost three months after the last one. Yuuri didn't even want to know what could have driven Wolfram to stay away from his diary for three whole months. Had he really been that attached to his accidental fiancé? Yuuri made a mental note to ask Wolfram when he was feeling better, and kept flipping through the entries until he found a slightly longer one, dated about a year after his disappearance.

_Gwendal might as well just declare himself Maou and be done with it. Ever since Yuuri left a year ago, my oldest brother has again taken over most of the duties of a Maou. He's quite good at it too, if I do say so myself. But he is unwilling to officially take the position. He seems convinced that Yuuri will come back. It's strange, really, seeing him be so very idealistic. Isn't that Gunter's job? Hmph. Maybe Gunter is rubbing off on him…they've been spending a lot of time together lately, trying to keep the country from falling apart. I don't envy them one bit. Watching over the von Bielefeld territory since my Uncle abdicated is difficult enough. Having to do that with their own territories and take care of all of Shin Makoku at once must be nearly impossible. Especially now, what with all the plans Yuuri left behind, and that Gwendal insists on implementing. Then again, it looks like Yuuri was right about a lot. We have many humans living in Shin Makoku now, and things have been very peaceful lately. I'm so proud of Yuuri…he was really a great Maou, even if it didn't always seem like it at the time._

And then, a few days later:

_Well, at least now we have a good answer for the question of why Gwendal won't officially take the office of Maou. Morgif rejected him. I'm a bit angry about that, really. And by "a bit" I mean "absolutely furious." Gwendal is doing an excellent job leading this country! What does a damn sword know about such things? Ugh. I'm going to bed._

Yuuri sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Ah, Morgif, why'd you do that? Did you really know a new Maou would come along? Or that I would come back?" He stretched and rubbed the back of his neck, readjusted the candelabra so that the light fell more on the diary pages, then leaned forward and began reading again. The next three years were filled with short entries of no more than a few sentences each, musing on such things as the state of affairs in Shin Makoku and the amount of time Gwendal and Gunter put into running the country, interspersed with little reports on Greta's latest activities and the occasional word or three about missing Yuuri. And then, shortly after the New Year celebration about four years after Yuuri left Shin Makoku, Wolfram was apparently overcome by the need to write. The former Maou gave a slight groan when he noticed just how long this entry was and decided to skim it. And then, a set of words caught his eye: "the new Maou." He gasped and stared, wondering if he had misread the words, but no -- here, finally, was some information that might help him figure out what had happened since he left. And so he began to read.

_Well, today was quite interesting, to say the least. Greta has started spending more time with Gisela than Anissina. I sincerely hope that she'll focus more on medicine now. Anissina is a brilliant woman, but when it comes down to it, Gisela has done more with her talents and skills than Anissina. Greta would be a marvelous medic. _

_But that really isn't the most interesting thing that happened today. No, the most interesting thing involved Gunter, who came barreling into my brother's office just after lunch today and made a complete spectacle of himself. He didn't even give Gwendal time to ask what was wrong -- he just grabbed my brother's shoulders and started shaking him, all the while exclaiming, "The new Maou! There's a new Maou here! Come, Gwendal, you have to see!"_


	5. Shin Makoku, 46 Years Ago

Hmm, this chapter is a bit shorter than I expected. That, and the difference in time zones between home and where I am now is starting to confuse me :p Anyway! In this chapter, we meet someone knew. Well, we've already met her, but since this takes place in the past...er, you'll see. It'll make more sense if you just read it. And don't forget to review! It encourages me to keep updating.

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**Chapter 5: Shin Makoku, 46 years ago**

"Come, Gwendal, you have to see!"

Gwendal reached up and gently but firmly pried Gunter's hands from his shoulders. "Gunter, please try to calm down," he said in a long-suffering voice that didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever on the agitated man.

"But _Gwen-_dal," Gunter said, sounding rather petulant, "you don't understand, we have to go to Shinou's Temple _now_ and meet the new Maou!"

Wolfram coughed and eyed Gunter from where he was lounging in one of Gwendal's office chairs. "How do you know it's the new Maou?"

Gunter gave him a slightly miffed look. "Well, it's not Yuuri, but the only people who have ever traveled between the worlds like this are His Highness, the Great Sage, and His Highness's older brother. So I would imagine that any new person traveling to us through water would be a new Maou."

"That's quite an assumption to be making, Gunter," Gwendal said as gently as he could. He knew how much it would mean to the other man to have a new Maou…but that didn't mean they shouldn't be realistic about what was going on around them.

"And you're forgetting that all of us traveled to the other world through water too," Wolfram pointed out.

"Yes, with help," Gunter countered. "I don't think she had any help."

"She?" Gwendal and Wolfram asked.

Gunter nodded. "She."

Finally deciding that it was better to just humor Gunter and his eccentricities than to fight them, Gwendal gave a resigned sigh and massaged his forehead with one hand. "Fine. We'll go see this potential new Maou of yours. But Gunter, I'm warning you…if this turns out to be a waste of time, you're signing every single paper left on my desk when we get back."

Gunter glanced at the mountain of unsigned papers on Gwendal's desk, and for a moment his violet eyes were filled with dread. But only for a moment. "Come _on_, Gwendal, stop dawdling!" He grabbed the other man's hand and dragged him from the room, Wolfram scrambling to follow. They made it to the front gates of the castle to find Yozak, Conrad, and Cheri-sama already waiting, along with horses ready to carry them to the temple. The trio quickly mounted, and Gwendal led the way out the main gates and down the winding road to Shinou's Temple. They arrived to find the women of the Temple in a state of near-frenzy, and at first the somewhat confused Temple guards didn't want to let them in. But Gunter was good at putting his foot down when he wanted to, and this was definitely one of those times. Within minutes, they found themselves being ushered into the Temple, and from there into the courtyard, where the fountain sat in all its glory. And there, in the middle of the fountain, sat a soggy and rather unhappy-looking young woman.

They couldn't tell how tall she was, as she was sitting in the fountain and glaring up at the spear-brandishing guards surrounding her. But from he way she was glaring, they were certain her personality would more than make up for any lack of height on her part. The water had completely soaked her clothes, which clung to her body and showed that she was rather heavier than average. Her hair, long and brown, was tied back in a simple ponytail that kept it out of her face.

"Well, she sure doesn't look like Maou material," Yozak said dryly.

"Neither did Yuuri when he first got here," Conrad replied. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Frankly, I think she just looks angry," Wolfram said. "Those guards are lucky she can't use majutsu."

Cheri studied the girl for a moment, then strode forward, shooed the guards, and leaned over to get a closer look at the girl. The girl looked back at the former Queen quietly, as though sizing up her competition. The look on her face became more and more sour with each passing second. "Oh, now, don't do that, you have such a pretty face! You don't want to ruin it, do you? Looking sour will give you wrinkles, like Gwen, and we all know Gwen hasn't gotten a girl yet! You don't want to wind up like Gwen, do you?"

The sudden outburst of overly-cheerful admonishment shocked the girl, and she scrambled backwards as far as the fountain walls would allow. From her new vantage point beside one of the fish-head water spouts, she glared at Cheri was all the righteous indignation a sodden stranger stuck in a fountain could muster. And it was quite a lot, apparently, for the intensity of her glare made even the form Queen step back in surprise.

Gwendal sighed. "I don't suppose anyone here knows that majutsu for helping foreigners understand our language?"

"Well, I just learned how to do it a few months ago…" Wolfram said. "But I don't know if it will actually work. I've never tried it before."

"Then you need to try it now," his older brother said. "She obviously doesn't understand a word we're saying, and you're the only one here who can do it at all."

Wolfram nodded and steeled himself a bit. The girl in the fountain didn't look like the kind to take being grabbed by the head lightly. But this had to be done…and he was apparently the only one capable of doing it. Putting more confidence in his step than he really felt, he strode to the fountain, stepped over the edge, and knelt down before the strange girl, trying hard to ignore the lukewarm water soaking into his pants. "I'm sorry about this, it's probably going to hurt," he said. Then, before she had a chance to react, he lunged forward, grabbed the sides of her head in a vice-like grip, and concentrated as hard as he could. At first, aside from his captive's frantic struggling, he couldn't feel anything. But then the majutsu kicked in, and he could feel things…emotions and memories and sounds and smells and everything else flooding his consciousness, for just a moment until he found what he was looking for, the spot that let her understand her own language, and he put every once of his being into making her understand his language too. In all honesty, he wasn't entirely sure how the spell worked, and he didn't really care to know the theory behind it. He just knew that it worked, and that was all that mattered.

That, and the fact that the girl didn't slap him across the left cheek when she finally managed to land a blow that sent him sprawling in the water. He really didn't need another random engagement to a person from a different world.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" she shrieked, making everyone within earshot wince. "That _hurt_, you idiot!"

"It's not like I _wanted_ it to hurt!" Wolfram countered. "Did you really need to punch me?"

"You assaulted me, I had to defend myself somehow."

Gwendal nudged Gunter in the ribs and leaned closer to the other man. "Still so certain that this is the new Maou?"

Gunter shrugged. "We cannot be certain until she has been tested, you know."

Conrad ignored the muttered conversation and instead opted to help Wolfram out of the fountain, while Yozak followed to help the girl. She didn't really want to accept his help, at first, but upon realizing that trying to stand just made her dizzy, she relented and stopped struggling so that Yozak could carry her out of the fountain.

"Would someone like to explain to me how I wound up in that fountain?" she asked as Yozak carried her across the courtyard to the small group waiting for her.

"You are from Earth, correct?" Gunter asked, stepping forward and giving her a graceful bow."

Silence. "Er, yeah, me and everyone else here," she finally said.

"I'm afraid we're nowhere near Earth any longer," Conrad said.

"You're kidding. You really expect me to believe that?"

"We do not expect you to believe anything yet," Gwendal said. He turned away from the fountain and headed for the actual Temple. "Come. We should take her back to the Castle. We can talk better there, and she needs some dry clothes."


	6. Miriam

Good skies, you guys bumped the hits on this story to over 1000 today -- I think that's a speed record for me! Anyway, new chapter, in which much is revealed. Enjoy, and please review!

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**Chapter 6: Miriam**

"So, let me get this straight," the girl said, pacing back and forth before Gwendal's desk and trying not to step on the hem of her borrowed gown. "You people are called Mazoku, and you have a leader called the Maou who is divinely ordained --"

"Shinou isn't a god, exactly," Gunter interrupted.

"Ok, whatever. You have a leader called the Maou who is chosen by some dead guy who isn't a god, exactly, and in at least one previous case this Maou of yours has traveled between Earth and here via water, involving such things as tripping into puddles, being sucked down a bathtub drain, and being flushed down a toilet. And now, for some odd reason, you believe that I am your new Maou and that this justifies Pretty Boy over there trying to smash my head in. That sound about right to you?"

"Er, well, he wasn't trying to smash your head in," Gunter corrected nervously over Wolfram's irritated muttering. "He was performing majutsu to allow you to understand and speak our language."

"And at the moment it seems that Gunter is the only one who think you are our new Maou," Gwendal growled. "I, however, have serious doubts about that assertion."

The girl glared at him, her brown eyes filled with fire and threats. "Let's get something straight, here. I did not ask to come here. I…er…fell into a river, and when I opened my eyes again I was lying in that fountain with all those guards aiming very pointy-looking spears right at my chest. So, if you don't need me, I will happily go back to where I came from, or wake up from this nightmare, or whatever it is I have to do to get out of this place."

Gunter gave her a pleading look. "But if you are the Maou --"

"You have yet to convince me or your friend there of that fact."

"Right." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "There is an easy way to test," he finally said. "We just have to see if you can use Morgif."

"Mor…gif…?"

"The Maou's sword," Conrad explained. "Only the Maou can wield it."

"I don't want her tested," Gwendal said, standing and stalking around his desk to stand right in front of the short girl. "She obviously has no intention of taking up her duties as Maou, if that is indeed what she is."

Yozak snorted. "You said the same things about Yuuri, Excellency. And Yuuri proved you wrong."

Gwendal's eyes flashed and for a moment it looked as though he was going to hurt Yozak for being so impertinent, but then the fire left his eyes and he glanced away. "Yuuri was different."

Conrad stepped forward and placed a calming hand on his brother's shoulder. "Listen, all of you. I'm sure this is all very confusing for our guest, and it's getting late. Why don't we all just call it a day, give her a nice room in the castle, and meet again to discuss this in the morning?"

The others nodded in silent agreement (though the girl looked sour about the very thought of staying here overnight), and Gunter volunteered to show her to her room. Gwendal was perfectly content to have her out of his sight, and he sent the girl and Gunter off with a dismissive wave of his hand. When they were gone, he sat behind his desk once more and began rubbing his temples.

"You have to understand, Gwendal," Conrad said, "where she comes from, this sort of thing is the stuff of children's stories. Fantasies. It never really happens."

"That doesn't matter. The point is, if she is the Maou and is unwilling to take her position, Shin Makoku will suffer," Gwendal said. Conrad had never heard him sound so upset, and he just stood there, at a loss for what to do or say.

Wolfram stirred. "So we test her tomorrow. If she's not the Maou, we send her back and our problem is solved. And if she is the Maou, we find a way to convince her to stay and take the throne." He paused, then added, "I thought I grew out of being a pretty boy a couple of years ago. What's with her attitude?"

Conrad and Yozak chuckled, but Gwendal fixed his youngest brother with his patented Gwendal Glare of Death before letting out a resigned sigh. "There's nothing more to be done tonight. Get some rest, all of you. We'll deal with this in the morning."

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Gunter glanced over his shoulder at the girl trailing behind him. She looked angry, and confused, and perhaps a little sad. Not that he could blame her for that. She had, after all, just been torn from everything that was familiar and dropped into a place she knew nothing about. She had probably left behind a family that loved her, and a horde of friends who would be worried sick when she was discovered missing. Gunter wanted her to be the Maou, he truly did. Shin Makoku had been without a Maou since Yuuri had left four years ago, and things were going to get bad very fast if they didn't do something soon. But at the same time, a tiny part of the mazoku man's heart hoped she wasn't the Maou, if only because it would be less painful and confusing for her in the long run.

"You know, you haven't told us your name yet," he said cheerfully. "I'm Gunter von Christ." He paused, waiting for her to speak, but she didn't say anything. He let out a little sigh and they continued on, Gunter navigating them through the maze of halls in the castle and the guest following silently behind. "I do hope you turn out to be the Maou," he finally said. "Our last one left four years ago, and the people are starting to get restless. The last time we were without a Maou, it lasted twenty years and there was a terrible war. People are afraid that will happen again."

"Why did the last Maou leave?" she asked, her curiosity apparently getting the better of her.

"He was from Earth too, and when he defeated Sousho, he also released Shinou's soul. Shinou-Heika was the one who allowed Yuuri-Heika to travel between the worlds, and he opened one last portal after the battle to allow Yuuri-Heika to go home. Yuuri-Heika hasn't been back since…I assume he is unable to return."

"Er…okay," the girl said. "And what, he didn't have any kids who could become Maou? And his predecessor didn't have kids either?"

"Oh, Cheri-sama has three children. You met them all tonight…the youngest is the one who performed the spell to allow you to understand our language. But the position of Maou isn't hereditary. It is always passed on to whomever Shinou chooses. Or, in your case, perhaps whomever Shinou preordained long ago. Shinou isn't around any longer to be actively making choices."

She snorted. "Shinou seems pretty stupid, if he's picking someone like me to be Maou. Wouldn't you normally want someone with some kind of experience to be a national's leader?"

Gunter finally stopped before a heavy-looking wooden door and smiled at her. "Experience is helpful, but sometimes a fresh perspective is better. Besides, you have people like me around to help. I have a lot of experience helping the Maou. Now." He twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, then stepped aside to let his guest pass. "This is your room for the night. There's a cord here by the door, and another one by the bed. If you need anything, pull on one of them, and a servant will come to you. Do you need anything now?"

"Nothing that can't wait until morning," she replied, looking around in awe.

Gunter nodded and stepped back out of the room. "Well, then, sleep well, my lady."

"Miriam."

He paused, door partway closed, and looked up in confusion. "What?"

"Miriam. That's my name -- Miriam Whitehall."

Gunter smiled. "Well, then, good night Miriam."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam woke just after sunrise the next morning, to find that a fresh set of clothes had been laid out for her sometime the previous night. She ignored the clothes for the time being and instead poked around her room, searching for a bathroom or, at the very least, a wash basin. But she didn't see either one, nor did she find a door leading to anything even remotely bathroom-like, and a quick inspection of the hallway outside her room showed it to be lined with doors that she didn't feel like opening at random. With her luck, one of them would lead to Pretty Boy's room, and with her luck he slept in the nude, and that was something she did _not_ want to see. _Ever._ Finally, with a resigned sigh, Miriam tugged on the cord near her door and settled in to wait for a servant to show up.

She had only been waiting for five minutes at most when someone knocked quietly on her door. "My lady?" a muffled female voice said. "You called for help?"

Miriam stood, scrambled to her door, and pulled it open. A young maid stood demurely before the door. She dropped a quick curtsey and smile at Miriam. "Good morning, my lady. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I guess you can start by telling me your name," Miriam said. "I can't call you 'maid', after all."

The young maid nodded. "My name is Lazania."

Miriam blinked at her, confused. "Lasagna? You mean, like the food?"

"The food, miss?" It was poor Lazania's turn to be confused.

"Yeah, you know. Lasagna. You don't have lasagna here?"

"Er…well…my name is Lazania…"

Miriam sighed and shook her head. "Right, never mind. Anyway, I need to wash up before breakfast."

"Right!" Lazania exclaimed, perking up instantly. "Follow me, miss." Miriam grabbed her outfit for the day and trailed after her, trying to remember the path they took through the castle to the same bath she had visited the previous evening (she lost track somewhere around the fifth turn down yet another new hallway). "Now, if you need anything, I'll be waiting to bring you to breakfast when you're finished, so just call for me," Lazania said. With another quick curtsey, she left Miriam to her bath.

Following the bath and a short fight with her borrowed clothes (why was this dress so hard to get into? It couldn't possibly be that much different from clothes back home), Miriam followed Lazania through the maze of hallways in the castle until they arrived at the small dining room used for breakfasts, lunches, and informal dinners. The table was already nearly full -- just one seat was free for Miriam, right between Gunter and the one she only knew as Pretty Boy. The blonde man gave her a hard look, then snapped his head to the side with a soft "Hmph!" Gunter rolled his eyes, then motioned for Miriam to come take the empty seat.

"Good morning, Miriam. Did you sleep well?" he asked as she gingerly sat down and eyed the others nervously.

"Erm…yeah, I guess."

"Excellent," Gunter said, leaning out of the way as another maid put a plate of food in front of him. "Well, I really hate to rush things, but we do not have that much time. Things in Shin Makoku get worse with each passing day, so we need to get down to business. But first, some introductions." He paused to take a sip of his juice, then motioned to the black-haired man to his right. "This is Sir Gwendal von Voltaire. He has been fulfilling the duties of the Maou since Yuuri, the last Maou, left. Beside him is his younger brother, Sir Conrad Weller. Next is the former Maou, Lady Cecilie von Spitzburg --"

"Call me Cheri!" the blonde woman interjected, waving cheerfully at Miriam.

"-- whom we all call Cheri," Gunter continued, pretending he hadn't been interrupted. "And finally, to your left is Sir Wolfram von Bielefeld, the former fiancé of the last Maou." Wolfram's eyes flashed dangerously when Gunter said "former fiancé," but otherwise he showed no reaction to his introduction.

"Right, well, like I told Gunter here last night, I'm Miriam Whitehall. And I still think you could find a better Maou than me."

Gunter sighed while Gwendal flashed him a sour look. "I understand you are nervous about becoming Maou," he said diplomatically, "but you appeared here for a reason. I am certain that you are here because you are meant to be our new Maou. There is an easy enough way to test -- we told you about Morgif last night, if I recall correctly -- but we are not going to force you to take the throne."

Miriam picked at her food, then looked up at Gwendal. "You're Gwendal, right? Didn't Gunter just say that you've been fulfilling the duties of the Maou since this Yuuri left?" Gwendal nodded and stabbed a mouthful of egg with far more force than was required for such a task. Miriam winced, then continued, "So, why don't you just become the Maou? You're probably more than qualified for the job."

"Morgif rejected me, and Morgif's word on this matter is final," Gwendal muttered.

"Morgif isn't very smart if it would take me over you."

"That's something we agree on, anyway," Wolfram muttered. Miriam gave him a shocked and hurt look, while Cheri-sama gasped. "It's true!" he insisted. "She says again and again that she does not want the job! Is that really the kind of person we want to push into being our Maou?"

"We've had this conversation," Gunter said tersely.

"And I still don't like the answer," Wolfram spat.

Conrad cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him. He leaned forward, ignoring his breakfast for the moment, resting his elbows on the table, and clasping his hands before his chest as though in prayer. "We have indeed been over this territory many times, and it doesn't seem to be all that helpful," he said. "I think we need to explain the situation to Miriam. It strikes me that she can't make a good decision without knowing the full details of what has been happening here since Yuuri left."

The others nodded in agreement, and Gunter gave a small bow. "Very well." He turned to Miriam and leaned back in his seat. "You need to understand a bit about what Yuuri-Heika did in his time here. Prior to his arrival, this land was torn by war and mistrust between humans and mazoku. Those who claimed both human and mazoku heritage, like Conrad here, were mistrusted by everyone and treated even more poorly than ordinary humans. Though Conrad and his comrades made some headway in gaining greater respect for half-mazoku, it was not enough. Yuuri was the one who finished that work, gained greater respect and rights for humans and half-mazoku, and forged many peaceful alliances with our neighboring nations. In addition, he found Morgif and returned it to the Castle, helped ensure the safety of a colony of rare bear-bees on the Castle grounds, and most impressive of all, defeated the evil Soushou, whose soul had been imprisoned within Shinou-Heika's soul. This is no small feat -- you have to understand that Shinou-Heika was the most powerful of all the Maou of Shin Makoku, and even he was unable to completely defeat Soushou. For Yuuri to do that…well, he was much more powerful that Shinou-Heika, in the end. Unfortunately, defeating Soushou meant releasing Shinou-Heika's soul, which in turn meant that Yuuri was unable to travel between Earth and Shin Makoku any longer. He returned to Earth with his older brother and with his friend Murata, the reincarnated Great Sage, and has not been seen for four years. Things are beginning to fall apart here, for Shin Makoku needs its Maou and has been without one for four years. We fear that things will only get worse if Shin Makoku is without a Maou for much longer."

"A new war seems like a distinct possibility," Gwendal said.

Miriam blinked at Gunter, trying to absorb all of the information he had just thrown at her, and sighed in resignation. "Just how close to war are we?"

Gunter turned to Gwendal and Conrad. The two exchanged a quick look, then Conrad said, "Great Cimaron has been causing problems at our border again. They know we don't have a leader, and they were our biggest enemy before. Right now they seem to be content to wait around and see what happens, but I fear they will start making aggressive moves soon, perhaps even within the year."

"Sooner," Gwendal corrected. "They will move within the next nine months, I am sure of it."

"If they do succeed in making any sort of aggressive moves against us, they will only be encouraged," Gunter added. "And that could lead to further aggression."

"Another war, you mean," Miriam said grimly.

"Eventually, yes," Gunter agreed.

Miriam sighed and raked her hand back through her still-damp hair, then looked

around the table at the others. Her eyes fell on Wolfram. "What would you do in this situation?"

The young man balked. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I need more opinions on what to do and I can't ask anyone from back home. Consider this payback for trying to make my head explode yesterday."

Wolfram glared at her sourly, then said, "I would do the responsible thing and try to prevent the war."

The girl nodded an fell silent, slowly eating her breakfast as she considered her options. But really, what choice did she have? If she was the Maou, like Gunter seemed to think she was, she had the chance to prevent some very bad things from happening. How many times had she wanted that chance back home? How many times had she wished she could be in charge, just for a day, so she could fix the world's problems? A naïve dream, in many ways, but one she had had nonetheless. And here, now, was the chance to live out that dream -- sort of. But there was still one thing left to do…

"Okay, fine. You said you had to test me with this Morgif thing, right? To see if I'm the Maou or not?"

"Yes," Gunter said, a hint of hope in his voice.

"Fine. Test me. I'll make a decision after that's over."

Gunter didn't waste even one moment. As soon as Miriam stopped speaking, he jumped up and whirled to face the maids. "Send for Dorcas and Yozak, and have them bring Morgif to us!" he exclaimed. Lazania scrambled from the room to do Gunter's bidding. She returned a few minutes later to inform him that Dorcas and Yozak had gone to retrieve Morgif from the treasure rooms. It wasn't long after that before the two men (the most mismatched pair Miriam had ever seen) appeared, bearing the sword with them. It was a long sword, with a bright silver blade and a single cabochon jewel set in the hilt just above what looked like a strangely stretched face that hummed and contorted itself as a means of communications. It was the scariest-looking thing Miriam had ever seen, and if it hadn't been for Yozak's nonchalance in the presence of the sword combined with Gunter's excitement, she probably would have refused to touch it. But Gunter was being far too cheerful for her to want to dampen his spirits, and Yozak seemed to think there was nothing strange about the sword, so she gave one brief nod and waved him closer.

Yozak obediently crossed the space between them and stopped before her, holding the sword out. Miriam gulped, then reached out and grabbed the hilt with both hands, lifting the sword. "Careful, it's heavy," Yozak said.

"Yeah, I noticed," Miriam said dryly. She stared at the sword in her hands, waiting for it to do something, but nothing happened. For several long moments, the room was filled with an expectant silence while everyone awaited the sign that Miriam was the new Maou.

Finally, Wolfram let out an exasperated sigh and turned his attention back to the remnants of his breakfast. "It's not doing anything. I could have told you myself she wasn't the new Maou, she's definitely not Maou material."

"Wolf, be nice! She's a guest, Maou or not," Cheri-sama chided.

"I was so hopeful…if not her, than who?" Gunter asked glumly, wilting a bit. Gwendal hesitated, then gently pat the other man's white-clad shoulder.

"Sorry kid," Yozak said. He sounded genuinely unhappy. "Looks like you're not the one." He reached out to take the sword back from her.

Without warning, a brilliant flash of light filled the room, accompanied by a growl so deep it made the breakfast plates vibrate where they rested on the table. Wolfram dropped his fork in amazement, and the silver utensil skittered towards the table's edge before clattering to the floor. All eyes turned to Miriam, who was holding Morgif in front of her and staring at the glowing weapon in shock.

"Is it supposed to be doing this?" she shouted over the growl, which was getting louder by the moment.

Before anyone could answer, the growl turned into a higher-pitched howl, then abruptly stopped. The glow in the sword pulsed once, then faded. "Well," Gwendal said into the silence that followed, "it certainly did not do that when I was tested."

Gunter just blinked in shock, then his face lit up with a look of pure, rapturous joy and he flung himself at poor unsuspecting Miriam. "I knew it, I knew it! Maou-Heika! Oh, I'm so happy!"


	7. Trials and Tribulations

A new chapter for you all, because I'm not sure that I'll be able to load it tonight. There are some interesting obstacles in store for our new Maou, and she's about to hit the first round of them...

And speaking of our new Maou, just a quick reminder: This is a fic pairing Wolfram with an original character (OC) and, to a lesser extent, pairing Gunter and Gwendal. Yuuri and Wolfram don't get to be anything other than friends and former fiancees in this one -- sorry! Hope you like it anyway, though, and please review. I really want to know how I'm doing...

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**Chapter 7: Trials and Tribulations**

"Wait, wait, wait," Miriam said, frowning at the people around her. Gunter stopped in mid-clap and smiled radiantly at her. Gwendal and Wolfram frowned, Conrad gave her a quizzical look, and Cheri-sama continued eating her breakfast as though completely bored with the morning's events. Miriam gingerly handed Morgif back to Yozak, then crossed her arms over her chest. "I never said I would become the Maou. I said I would make my decision after being tested…I haven't decided yet."

"You don't really have a much of a choice, you know," Cheri-sama said between delicate bites of egg and sausage. "Morgif has spoken. You are the Maou. It is your duty to take up the position now that you know it's rightfully yours."

"And what if I don't want it? What if I still think I'm not cut out for the job?"

Gunter's face fell. "You will have my help, Miriam-Heika."

"Perhaps you do not understand what could happen if you do not take the throne," Gwendal rumbled. "The last time we had to wait for a new Maou to appear, we wound up with a twenty-year wait filled with warfare and suffering. During Yuuri-Heika's reign, we entered a period of peace that none of us are eager to leave."

"Remember that Great Cimaron is growing restless," Conrad added. "It is possible they will make a move against us soon, if they believe us to be weak."

"And not having a Maou makes us look very weak," Wolfram pointed out.

Miriam sighed and turned away from the others, staring out the window at the well-kept garden. She started pacing a bit, unconsciously raising her hand to her mouth and biting the skin around her nails. "You do realize I have no experience leading…well…anything…right?"

Gunter went to stand beside her and pat her shoulder. "As I have said, you will have my help, Miriam-Heika."

She looked up into the royal adviser's gentle lavender eyes and bit her lip. "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I? Leaving Shin Makoku to a possible violent fate just doesn't seem right."

"It's up to you, kid," Yozak said. "But things don't look good for us if you leave."

Miriam sighed and leaned against the wall, looking a bit wilted and weary. Finally she said, "Fine. I'll do it. But you all need to help me. This isn't something I can do on my own."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"And that is the complete history of Shinou-Heika and the Great Sage," Gunter declared, turning away from the display of maps and charts on the wall and facing Miriam. For her part, Miriam was struggling to keep her eyes open through Gunter's lecture. It would have been interesting, she thought…if he hadn't been trying to do it so late at night. They had been at this for hours, ever since just after breakfast and Miriam's reluctant acceptance of the position of Maou.

"Gunter…"

"Following the death of Shinou-Heika--"

"Er, Gunter…"

"-- the second Maou of Shin Makoku --"

"Gunter!"

He finally stopped and blinked at Miriam. "Yes, Heika?"

She let her head fall to the table for a moment, then slowly raised her head and studied Gunter intently. "Ok, first, you and everyone else here need to call me Miriam. This whole 'Heika' thing just isn't going to work. And second, I know it's important for me to know the history of Shin Makoku if I'm going to rule it but really, do we have to do it all in one night?"

"Oh my, I have gone on for a while, haven't I?" Gunter said, looking out the window at the setting sun. "It is just about bed time too. Perhaps we should finish for tonight."

"Yes. Oh, and do you think we could possibly do this a little differently?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Well," Miriam said, "those maps and charts of yours are pretty incomprehensible to me, seeing as I can't read the language here. And if I can't read, I can't study the maps and charts or sign papers properly or get information from any source other than you and your friends. If I'm going to rule this country, don't you think I should know how to read?"

Gunter pondered this for a moment, then nodded. "Of course. This is a brilliant idea, Hei -- I mean, Miriam. I will revise my lesson plans immediately!"

"Right. Thanks. But first, I need sleep. See you tomorrow."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The following morning, after a brief history lecture from Gunter and a quick overview of current events with the ever-gruff Gwendal, Gunter brought Miriam and the other denizens of Blood Pledge Castle back to his office to review his revised lesson plan for her. By the time he was finished, Miriam almost wished she hadn't suggest a single change the previous night. Her adviser, it seemed, had taken the idea of revision and run with it so wildly that Miriam was certain his original plans for her education no longer existed.

"Now, Miriam-Heika --"

"Just Miriam."

"Apologies. Miriam, here is your new study schedule." Gunter handed her a long sheet of paper, on which he had written a list of things that were completely indecipherable to the poor confused girl. He handed identical sheets to each of the others, then took up a position before the office's large windows and began outlining his plan as though directing an army. "In the morning immediately following breakfast, I will give you a brief lesson in the history of Shin Makoku. Then, just as you did this morning, you will meet with Gwendal for an overview of recent events. As time goes on, he will begin delegating tasks back to you, and your meeting time with him will be devoted to fulfilling those tasks. You will then have a lunch break, followed by lessons in court customs and etiquette with Cheri-sama and lessons in sword fighting with Conrad or Yozak. Then, just before dinner, Wolfram will assist you in learning to read our script. The hours after dinner will be yours to do with as you please, though I strongly suggest independent study."

Miriam blinked up at him in dismay._ Okay, first off, what's with all the people around here who like to give speeches instead of having normal conversations? And second, what does he think I am, Supergirl?_ "Gunter, don't you think this is a bit…ambitious?"

"Of course it's ambitious!" Gunter exclaimed, eyes glittering as he danced cheerfully around the room. "You are the new Maou! You can accomplish anything if you wish it! An ambitious plan is just the thing to keep you occupied."

"I am _not_ going to spend hours trying to teach this…this…annoying brat how to read!" Wolfram exclaimed.

Gunter glared at him. "It is the duty of every person in this castle to assist Miriam-Heika in become the best Maou she can be, and that includes you! She is a brilliant girl and a hard worker, teaching her to read should be no problem for you, Wolfram von Bielefeld."

Wolfram grumbled mutinously while Miriam sighed and shook her head slowly. Gunter had had exactly one day before now to work with her, where did he get off assigning qualities to her?

"When do I get to travel and see more of Shin Makoku? I can't very well rule a place I've never seen," Miriam pointed out.

"Traveling will have to wait, I'm afraid," Gunter said. "You need to know more about Shin Makoku and our customs first, otherwise you risk making mistakes that could have terribly consequences."

"We hardly need another accidental engagement, after all," Gwendal muttered.

Miriam blinked at him. "What?"

"Never mind," he said sourly. "Gunter is correct. Just listen to him for now and all will go well."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

By the time she was finally able to escape and have some time to herself that night, Miriam was certain that Gwendal was not only wrong, but delusional. The day, as far as she was concerned, had been a complete disaster.

Lunch had been a quiet affair, made rather uncomfortable by the presence of a sulking Wolfram and still-sour Gwendal (why in the world was he so sour? The man really needed to lighten up). After lunch, Cheri-sama had kicked everyone else out of the dining room and ordered the maids to bring out two sets of full formal place settings, the type that would be used at State dinners, and set about teaching Miriam basic dining etiquette. Miriam was certain this would have been much easier had she come from a wealthy background where complicated place settings and big fancy dinners were common, but her family was neither wealthy nor influential and it was rare for them to have more than four items on the table for each person. The giant place settings, with several plates, multiple pieces of silverware, and three or four glasses per person confused Miriam to no end, and by the time she had to leave for her sword fighting lessons with Conrad and Yozak she was thoroughly discouraged and desperately hoping that she wouldn't have to host or attend a State dinner anytime soon (or that, if she did, Gunter would be there to stop her from doing anything too stupid or rude).

Conrad and Yozak were waiting for her in one of the castle's many open yards, with a large selection of wooden practice swords to choose from. That too proved disastrous. Most of the swords were either too long or too heavy for the short, out-of-shape Miriam. Her teachers displayed an enormous level of patience for her, though, and Conrad sent Yozak back to the armory several times to retrieve more practice weapons. They finally found one that was small and light enough for Miriam to use, and while Yozak enlisted Dorcas's aid in ferrying the rejected swords back to the armory, Conrad began their first lesson in basic sword fighting techniques. Somehow, Miriam managed to master some of the basic blocks well enough that Conrad was just about to show her how said blocks would work against attacking blows, when Gwendal appeared and paused to watch them for a moment. Miriam looked up at him and grinned, hoping to elicit a good response from him. Gwendal glowered at her, then stalked over and took the practice sword from her.

"Conrad."

"Yes, brother?"

Gwendal's eyebrow twitched and the corners of his mouth turned down even farther. "Why is the new Maou using a child's practice weapon?"

Miriam's eyes widened in hurt surprise -- Yozak and Conrad hadn't mentioned that she was using a child's sword. The initial shock wore of quickly, to be replaced by a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had always been terrible at physical tasks, and hadn't been looking forward to sword fighting lessons. Why did Gwendal have to go and mention that she wasn't even using an adult's sword?

Conrad glared at his older brother and snatched the sword from him, handing it back to Miriam. "The others were too long for her," he said tersely. "She has made a lot of progress today, Gwendal. We have a Maou to be proud of."

"Perhaps." And with that, Gwendal stalked off to do whatever he had been going to do when he stopped.

Miriam hung her head in shame, trying hard to hide the fact that she was blushing because of Gwendal's comments. Conrad placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "He means no harm, Heika."

"What's his problem, exactly? I think he hates me."

"Gwendal takes a long time to warm up to people. He disliked Yuuri for a while as well."

Miriam snorted. "Well, then, there's no hope for me, given how highly you all speak of this 'Yuuri'." Tossing the sword aside, she stepped away from Conrad and stretched a bit. "I have to meet Wolfram soon. Can we stop early today?"

"Of course," Conrad said. He watched her leave in silence, then turned to Yozak, who had been lounging under a nearby tree throughout the practice session and had remained silent, even during Gwendal's appearance. "What _has_ gotten into my brother lately?" he asked.

Yozak shrugged. "I try to stay out of Gwendal's way. But I'm sure it has something to do with Miriam-Heika. He's been all surly and sour since she arrived."

Conrad nodded and turned his attention to the castle walls, letting his eyes wander from window to window until he found the one he knew looked out from his brother's office. He studied the window, as though hoping it would give him some clue as to Gwendal's recent behavior, but the walls and windows were silent and unhelpful. He sighed and shook his head. All he could do now was be as supportive of Miriam as possible, and hope Gwendal would come around.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam slowly made her way through the castle halls, searching for the room where she was to meet Wolfram for her reading lessons. As she walked, she made some mental notes about how the people in the castle were treating her, and tried to figure out why. Gunter was nice to her, almost too nice really. She suspected this had more to do with the fact that she was the Maou than with anything else. He barely knew her, after all. Conrad and Yozak were also kind to her, and from the way Conrad had reacted to Gwendal's appearance, she strongly suspected he felt sorry for her treatment at the dark-haired man's hands. It seemed that Gwendal really disliked her, but she wasn't sure what she had done to deserve that. Cheri-sama had taken something of a wait-and-see attitude towards her, for which she was grateful. And Wolfram…well, Miriam sincerely hoped she would get enough information from him today so that she could teach herself the rest. Wolfram seemed to like her about as much as Gwendal did, which wasn't very much at all.

She finally found the library where she was supposed to meet Wolfram, carefully pushed one of the heavy doors open and slipped inside. The door barely creaked, and Miriam had to admit that she was impressed by the level of care the castle received. She made a mental note to ask Gunter to assemble the castle caretakers someday so she could than them for their efforts, then began wandering the huge, book-filled room in search of Wolfram. Since she was early, she took some time to browse through a few of the shelves and examine some of the beautifully-bound books there, and found herself looking forward to the day she would be able to read them. And then, without warning, she found Wolfram.

The blond-haired young man was sitting in an overstuffed chair before the windows, with only his head showing above the back. Miriam stood there in silence for a moment, and could hear the quiet rustle of paper as Wolfram turned the pages in a book. She savored the peace of the moment for a few short seconds -- it was nice to not have any expectations or criticisms directed at her, for a change -- but the peace didn't last nearly as long as she would have liked.

"I'll happily burn this library down if it means getting you to stop staring at me," Wolfram said, as though commenting on the weather.

Miriam glared at the back of his head, thinking all kinds of evil thoughts about pretty boys and how terrible they were, particularly this one. "Who said I was staring at you? The view from here is nice."

Wolfram slammed his book shut and stood, turning to Miriam. His green eyes were filled with bitterness and annoyance. The book he held turned out to be smaller than she had imagined it would be, and he tossed it to her roughly. Miriam had never been fond of things flying at her like that, and though she tried to catch the book, she missed and it instead fell to the ground in such a way that several of the pages got bent. Wolfram snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, muttering "Wimp" under his breath as Miriam scrambled to pick up the book. She glanced at the title, then up at the man who was supposed to be her teacher. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"You're going to learn to read that book. Yuuri made it when he was learning to read our language. You can use it too."

Miriam shrugged and opened the book, glancing down at the first page. For the second time that day, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "This translation is in Japanese. I don't understand Japanese."

"Oh?" Wolfram asked. "Well, then, it looks like I can't help you. Go tell Gunter to find someone else to teach you." And with that, he turned on his heel and stalked off into the stacks. Miriam studied the book for a second before also turning and starting to look for the way out. She had made it halfway down the aisle between two towering bookshelves before pausing. _Wait a minute. I'm the Maou. What gives him the right to order me around? I'm not going to take that from him!_

Miriam ran the rest of the way to the door and stood there, eyes darting from shelf to shelf, wondering if Wolfram was hiding in the stacks or if he had left the library yet. No matter. She was prepared to wait here until dinner time to tell him off…and if she wound up having to tell him off at dinner, in front of everyone else, that would be fine too. As it turned out, she didn't have to wait anywhere near that long to confront Wolfram. About five minutes after she arrived at the library doors, he appeared from one of the bookshelves far to her left, sauntering towards the door with a book in hand and a smug look on his handsome face. He didn't notice her right away, but when he did, the smug look melted into a scowl. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be going to look for Gunter?"

"Yeah, about that," Miriam said, scowling right back at him. "I don't really appreciate being told what to do, especially by the likes of you."

"Why you --"

"Now you listen here, Pretty Boy. You might not like me or my being here, but the fact is, you're stuck with me. I'm the Maou, and even if I didn't want the job, I'm not one to run away from duty, either. I'm going to work very hard to be the best Maou I can be, and you can either help me with that or stay out of the way. You have my permission to give me your opinions on matters when I ask for them. But under no circumstances are you ever, _ever_, to order me around again. Have I made myself very clear?"

Wolfram clenched his free fist and gritted his teeth, his entire body trembling with suppressed rage. "How _dare_ you speak to me like that? I refuse to teach you anything!"

"Fine," Miriam said, stepping aside and motioning to the door. "Go tell Gunter that yourself. It was his idea to have you teach me how to read, after all."

With a final snort and glower, Wolfram shoved the library door open and stalked off down the hall. Miriam watched him go, then shook her head and left for her own room, where she would ask the maid Lazania to bring her dinner. She didn't feel like seeing anyone else tonight.


	8. Temperamental Gwendal

Aww, no reviews for Chapter 7. Did it really suck that bad? No, seriously, I want to know -- after all, how else am I going to learn to write better? Anyway, here's Chapter 8 for you. Hope you enjoy it, and please leave me a quick review :)

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**Chapter 8: Temperamental Gwendal**

"He refused to teach you anything?" Gunter asked the following morning, violet eyes wide in surprise.

"And then had the nerve to order me to tell you that. Order, mind you, not ask." Miriam shifted a bit in her seat tapped her fingers against the book Wolfram had given her yesterday.

"He has no right to do that," her adviser said grimly. "You are the Maou, whether he likes it or not and whether we have officially presented you to the people or not."

Miriam snorted. "I can't worry about that now. Look." She opened the book to the first few pages and pointed to Yuuri's notes. "I can't read Japanese, so this isn't going to help me at all. This looks like he was translating the sounds of your language into Japanese, so he could learn to read…why don't we just do the same thing?"

"I can certainly tell you the sounds our characters make," Gunter said.

"Tell me some of the basic spelling rules, too," Miriam said. "I mean, I'm already speaking the language…hopefully that'll make things a bit easier."

Gunter nodded and set aside his carefully-prepared lesson plan for the day and instead spent the morning leaning over Miriam's shoulder, pointing to the strange symbols Yuuri had copied down so carefully and repeating the sounds while Miriam made her own notes in the notebook. Once that was finished, he recited the language's spelling rules while Miriam scribbled them down on a fresh sheet of paper, which she folded and tucked into the notebook when the lesson was over. When that was finished, it was time for her to meet with Gwendal. On the way to the other man's office, Gunter promised Miriam that he would make up some penmanship practice sheet with the writing characters for her. They didn't have any more time to talk about it, though, for Gwendal was waiting for them in the hall when they arrived.

"I understand you banished my brother from your presence yesterday," he said as Miriam approached. "I would like to know why."

Miriam opened her mouth to respond, but Gunter raised his hand to stop her and answered instead. "Miriam-Heika says that Wolfram refused to teach her and in fact tried to give her orders. That is unacceptable behavior for anyone in this castle, including him."

Gwendal narrowed his dark-blue eyes at both of them, though the strongest bit of his glare was directed at Gunter instead of Miriam. "Wolfram's account of what happened is different."

"You would believe his word over that of the Maou?" Gunter asked in disbelief.

"He is my brother," the other man rumbled. "She does not even want to be our Maou."

"Then apparently Wolfram lied to you about a number of things," Miriam said coolly. "I might not want to be Maou, but I want to fulfill my duties here to the best of my ability. For that I need to learn. It seems like Gunter, Conrad, and Yozak are the only ones really taking that need seriously."

Gwendal looked about ready to explode, but managed to keep his cool long enough to say, "There is nothing new for me to report to you today," before going back into his office and slamming the door behind him. Gunter and Miriam blinked at the door, then Gunter shook his head sadly.

"Well, I suppose we can work on your reading and writing more, Heika." Miriam just nodded and silently followed Gunter back to his office.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Things went on like this for the next several weeks, with Gwendal and Wolfram continuing to staunchly despise the new Maou, Conrad and Yozak trying to teach her to use the sword while staying out of any arguments about her, Gunter doing his best to shield her from the worst of Gwendal's wrath, and Cheri-sama quietly lending her support to Miriam's side in the mini war being waged within the walls of Blood Pledge Castle. As she pointed out on several occasions, Morgif had spoken, and Morgif's word was final.

And so, life in the castle was tense, but bearable as long as Miriam was able to avoid Gwendal and Wolfram. It wasn't easy, but since Gunter had taken over her reading and writing lessons, she had no reason to be around Wolfram. Gwendal was more difficult to shake, but Miriam asked Conrad if he could get Gwendal's reports and bring them to her, which the young man did quite willingly.

Then, one day, the peace was blown straight to hell.

It being a lovely midsummer day, Miriam good-naturedly badgered Gunter into moving their lessons outside. Gunter told her to wait patiently while he copied the days' reading and writing drills onto fresh paper (they couldn't very well carry the blackboard outside, since it was bolted to the wall) and then led her out into one of the castle's smaller gardens. Miriam settled onto the garden's bench to go through the drills while Gunter decided to take a quick look around the garden and make sure everything was in order. When Miriam finished the writing drills, she called Gunter over to check her work. He came up behind her and leaned forward to see, causing his hair to fall in a great lavender curtain between them.

Miriam frowned at the hair, then carefully reached up and pushed it aside. Gunter gave her a curious look. "What? Your hair's nice and all, but it's also nice to be able to see your face," she said.

"True," he said, smiling at her before turning his attention back to her work. His eyes scanned the page quickly, and his smile broadened with each passing moment. When he finished, he flung his arms around Miriam. "Oh Heika, I'm so proud of you! Not a single mistake, and your writing is so beautiful! Just what I would expect from our great Maou!"

Miriam struggled a bit, gingerly patting Gunter's back. "Eh…Gunter…thanks, but you really should let me go…I can't breathe…"

"What in the name of Shinou is going on out here??"

Gunter jerked away from Miriam in shock, and both turned towards the archway the voice had spoken from. There they saw Gwendal, breathing hard and looking ready to murder someone. "Gwendal, come see! Miriam-Heika did perfectly on her --"

"I can see just fine from here, thank you," Gwendal ground. "And what I see disgusts me to no end. Have you no shame, Gunter? Or you, who claim to be our Maou?"

"I wasn't aware that a friendly hug was something to be ashamed of," Miriam said dryly.

"Then you obviously need to relearn the definition of shame, and my mother needs to teach you more about shameful behavior. You disgust me. Both of you!" And with that, he was gone, stalking away into the castle.

"Stay here," Gunter said grimly. "I need to have a word with Gwendal about his temper."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gwendal was so absorbed in his own angry thoughts that he didn't even notice he was being followed until he tried to shut his office door and found that it wouldn't close all the way. He tried again and again, pushing on the door, and finally looked to see what was wrong with it.

There stood Gunter, booted foot lodged firmly between the door and the door jamb and hand pressed against the door itself, keeping it from slamming too hard into his foot. His normally cheerful face was a mask of coldness and annoyance, and so different was this from his usual appearance that even the irate Gwendal noticed. "What's wrong with you?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Gunter said. "After all, you are the one who just presented both the Maou and myself with a wonderful display of bad-tempered immaturity." His eyes softened a bit and he added, "What has gotten into you, Gwendal? You have been like this since Miriam arrived, and it only gets worse with each passing day."

Gwendal stepped away from the door and took up a spot near the windows behind his desk, while Gunter stepped into the office and closed the door quietly behind him. "The way you fawn over her…the way you follow her…the way you track her every move…it makes me sick. You did it with Yuuri too, but that I could tolerate. He was a child. He needed every ounce of guidance you could give him. But this Miriam is supposed to be an adult. She can think for herself, she doesn't need you to be always at her side! And then, I step out into the garden, and what do I see? You, leaning over her, letting her touch your hair, embracing her as though your very life depended on it --"

"Oh for goodness' sake, Gwendal. You sound like a jealous lover. How long have you known me? To think there could be anything between me and the Maou! Stop being so ridiculous."

Gwendal turned from the window and glared at Gunter. "I will stop being ridiculous when I have reason to believe that I am being ridiculous to begin with."

"Honestly, Gwendal, I don't understand why you are so upset! We are friends, nothing will threaten that. Not Yuuri, not Miriam, nothing. What's wrong?" Gunter asked, stepping closer to the other man.

"Your actions indicate otherwise," Gwendal snapped.

Gunter snorted. "Then you obviously don't know me very well. How old was Yuuri when he was here? Fifteen? Sixteen at the oldest. You seem to think I was romantically attracted to him, but really, have you ever known me to be romantically interested in one so young before or since?" Gwendal made no reply, so Gunter plowed on. "And Miriam! Gwendal, she's a woman! Tell me, now, when was the last time I was attracted to any woman?" Gwendal's head bobbed up just a bit at that. "I thought we were closer than that, I thought you knew me better. These are very basic facts of my life --"

"You had no interest in Yuuri?" Gwendal asked.

"You just heard me say as much."

"And Miriam? You have no interest in her, either?"

Gunter sighed. "My only interest in her is in helping her to be the best Maou possible, nothing more. She has a difficult life ahead of her. The least I can do is offer my support and guidance."

Gwendal pondered that for a moment, then said, "Well, as long as that is how it remains. Anything else would just be inappropriate."

Gunter raised an eyebrow. "You got so worked up over that?"

"Well, of course. Anything that happens in the walls of this castle could influence the reputation of Shin Makoku elsewhere. I want us to continue having a good reputation, you know."

"Right," Gunter said dryly. "If you'll excuse me, Miriam-Heika was in the middle of a reading lesson when I left, and I should return to her."

"Of course. Tell her I have a new report for her, whenever she is ready for it."

Gunter nodded and left Gwendal's office. On the one hand, he felt better about things than he had before. He strongly suspected that Gwendal was no longer going to treat Miriam as badly as he had been over the past several weeks. On the other hand, though, he had a sneaking suspicion that Gwendal was hiding something from him. Oh well. That mystery would have to be solved at some other time.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Gunter."

The violet-haired man looked up from his work, staring into the late evening darkness beyond the small sphere of light the candles on his desk created. "Yes, Gwendal?"

Gwendal stepped out of the darkness and extended a hand to Gunter. "This letter arrived at the castle this afternoon, after our…discussion. I thought you should see it."

Gunter took the letter from Gwendal, unfolded it, and read through it quickly. "This is bad."

"Indeed. Great Cimaron is testing us."

"Miriam isn't prepared for a meeting with another nation's leader yet," Gunter said. "Her reading is coming along marvelously, Conrad has told me that her sword fighting skills have also improved, and she has a good memory for our history and customs. But to have a private meeting with the leader of Great Cimaron?"

Gwendal dragged a chair over from near Gunter's large conference table and sat in it, leaning his elbows on Gunter's desk and folding his hands before him. "But we cannot reject their request. To do so could be a diplomatic disaster."

"Perhaps we should ask Miriam what she would prefer to do?"

"Perhaps. To let her meet anyone alone at this point would be unwise, though."

Gunter nodded. "But it might be our only option."

"It's too late to deal with this now, I suppose," Gwendal said. "But I hate having my hand forced like this."

"As do I," Gunter said softly, staring down at the letter in his delicate hands. "We must trust Miriam-Heika to be able to handle this. We cannot do it for her."

Gwendal nodded. "I know. But that doesn't make me any less worried."


	9. The New Maou

My internet situation is about to change drastically for the next...er...nine days, give or take. So this is going to be the last chapter for a few days at least. In fact, it might be the last chapter for a very long time. Apparently I've managed to screw something up terribly with this story, but nobody seems to want to tell me what. Please, folks, the only way for me to write a better story in the future is for you to give me some critique on this one. Tell me what you love, what you hate, what you would have done differently...anything constructive (constructive "hey, you know, things X, Y, and Z could use a little work, and here are some ideas how to fix them." Non-constructive/flaming "omg you suck!").

**Chapter 9: The New Maou**

"So, this Great Cimaron…I'm confused about our relationship with them," Miriam said, studying the letter in her hands as though it would burn her.

"We have had trouble with them in the past," Gunter said.

"One of Yuuri's main accomplishments was smoothing our relations with them," Conrad added.

Wolfram too frowned at the letter and jumped to get it when Miriam set it down in the center of the breakfast table. "Their leader wants to meet you in person? Alone?"

"Looks like it anyway." She turned to Gunter. "What do you think? Should I do it?"

Gunter and Gwendal exchanged a worried look, then Gwendal leaned forward. "We discussed this last night, and we agreed that the decision is yours alone to make. But you must keep several things in mind when making this decision. First, be mindful of your own limitations. It is entirely possible they will attempt to trip you up somehow, especially if they have the chance to meet you in private. Second, though, you must keep in mind the ramifications of any choice you make about meeting Great Cimaron's leaders in private. Other nations may come to expect the same courtesy."

Miriam pondered this while Wolfram passed the note to his mother. "It seems like a bad idea to meet them alone…and I'll need to meet everyone eventually anyway…So, why don't we just invite everyone here for a banquet or something?"

"You're hardly ready for such a thing," Cheri-sama said coolly.

"I can't stay hidden here forever," Miriam countered. "And at this rate, that's how things will turn out."

"We do need to present her to the people and to our allies soon," Gunter said.

Conrad nodded. "She has to be crowned sooner or later. Might as well make it sooner."

"But there's so much she still doesn't know!" Cheri-sama exclaimed.

Gwendal nodded. "Yes, but she is learning quickly, and we crowned Yuuri long before he knew much about life in Shin Makoku. Miriam has an advantage over him in that respect."

"Planning a coronation takes a long time," Wolfram pointed out.

"Then we had better get started," Miriam said grimly. "Time for me to make my debut."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The time Miriam would have usually devoted to lessons was thus turned over to planning and preparing for her impending coronation as Maou. Gunter managed to fit history and culture lessons in anyway, explaining the significance of different symbols and urging Miriam to incorporate certain ones into her person crest while avoiding others. His hardest task proved to be helping Miriam choose some colors to help break up the monotony of her all-black royal wardrobe. They finally settled on a main color scheme of black accented with deep red and gold, and after a few hours devoted entirely to designing her coronation gown, they sent the maids off to acquire the appropriate materials and see to the creation of the gown. And then it was on to more important matters.

Each day, Gunter led Miriam and the rest of the castle through a rehearsal for the actual coronation. Following the rehearsal, he drilled Miriam on the names of her honored guests and where they came from, along with at least one interesting fact about each nation she could mention and chat about during the reception afterwards. And when all of that was over, they worked on writing a short speech for her to give at the dinner following her coronation.

By the time the guests began arriving the day before the coronation, Gunter was a nervous wreck, and Miriam wasn't much better.

"Alright, now, remember what we discussed," Gunter said, pacing around behind the screen separating him from Miriam, who (with the help of Cheri and the maids) was busy attempting to change into a much simpler dress than what she would be wearing for the actual coronation the following day. "They'll be arriving in alphabetical order by nation, and they have to greet you first, so you shouldn't have any problem remembering the special greetings we practiced. If you get lost, you remember the signal we agreed upon, just rub your ear and I'll rescue you --"

"Gunter, I'm sure I won't need to be rescued," Miriam said, trying valiantly to sound calm and collected. It didn't work, and Gunter just started fussing even more. Finally, it was time for them to go.

Gunter, Gwendal, and the others arranged themselves at the head of the great hall while Yozak and Dorcas took up positions on either side of the hall's doors to admit and announce the guests. Much to Gunter's delight and Miriam's relief, everything went smoothly. Even Great Cimaron's greeting was fine, though Miriam thought the King looked a bit sullen -- still hurting because his request for a private meeting had been turned down and replaced by an invitation to a large event like this, Miriam supposed. Well, he would just have to deal with it. Miriam didn't believe in special treatment for people just because they gave her a hard time. Extending that principle to entire nations didn't seem like a bad idea to her.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Bright and early the following morning, the entire castle rose and instantly turned into a madhouse. The flurry of pre-ceremony activity was mind-boggling. Miriam tried hard not to think about it while Cheri-sama and the maids did her hair and make-up and laced her into her coronation gown. It was an off-the-shoulder ball gown that laced up the back and was decorated with delicate red and gold embroidery. They left most of her rich brown hair down, curling the ends a bit and piling the rest on top of her head in an elaborate up-do that rivaled the styles Miriam had seen on many brides back home. She rather liked it.

At precisely nine-thirty that morning, Gunter appeared to escort Miriam to the ceremonial hall where she was to be crowned. Though the ceremony was rather simple, the only part of it Miriam really remembered was sticking her hand in the waterfall, followed by the roar of the crowds, first those inside who were witnesses to the event, then those outside who had to wait for the official announcement to reach them. And thus, Miriam Whitehall became the twenty-eighth person to bear the title of Maou of Shin Makoku. It was the last thing she could have ever expected, and yet somehow, when she thought about it later, it had felt so very right. Perhaps she was meant to do this after all.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

They had finally finished their desserts, the perfect end to an incredible feast, when Conrad stood from his seat at the head of the table and tapped his crystal goblet with the dull edge of his knife a few times. The clear sound rang through the room, and the chattering guests fell silent and turned their eyes towards the young man in his dress uniform. Conrad cleared his throat, then gave the group a small smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, on behalf of the Royal Household, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Shin Makoku and Blood Pledge Castle." The crowd applauded politely before Conrad continued. "Today we celebrated a glorious event in Shin Makoku's history, the coronation of our twenty-eighth Maou. It is my great honor to introduce to you her Highness, the Maou Miriam, who has graciously agreed to say a few words."

Conrad gave a quick bow before settling back into his seat, while Miriam stood and regarded the crowd before her with all the regal bearing she could muster. The crowd broke into another round of applause, this time more thunderous than before, and Miriam glanced at Gunter to make sure everything was still running smoothly. He smiled and nodded, his eyes shining with pride and what she strongly suspected were unshed tears of happiness, and Miriam gave him a quick grin before turning her attention back to her guests. She nodded to them and raised one hand to wave delicately, as Cheri-sama had taught her, and the applause melted away into expectant silence. Mustering her courage and gathering her thoughts, Miriam began the short speech she had prepared for the evening.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure as the Maou of Shin Makoku to welcome you to the very heart of our nation tonight. In many ways, I too am a visitor here, for I was not born in Shin Makoku. Truly, when I first arrived here, I hardly believed that I was the one destined to lead this glorious nation. There are still times when I suspect I am not up to the task. And yet, it is a task that must be done. My predecessor, the Maou Yuuri, was widely respected in his time and accomplished many great things, not only for Shin Makoku but for our friends and allies as well. It is my sincere hope that Shin Makoku can remain friendly with each of your great nations, and that we can continue working together to ensure peace and prosperity for all those living under our rule. The task ahead is not an easy one. However, I am confident that by working together, we can achieve any goals we set for ourselves. I am determined to do right by the people of Shin Makoku and by our allies. Thank you all for being here this evening -- I am truly honored to share this great day with each and every one of you." And as the room once more dissolved into loud applause, Miriam sat and steeled herself for the round of toasts Gunter had warned her would follow.

"You had them replace my wine with juice, right?" she whispered, leaning closer to her adviser so only he could hear.

"Of course. I still think you are missing out by avoiding the wine, Heika."

"Miriam, Gunter, Miriam. And don't worry, I'll have some wine later. I'm just trying to avoid a hangover in the morning…there are a lot of toasts coming up."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

It was almost one in the morning when Miriam finally found a way to graciously leave her own feast and head to her private room for some well-deserved sleep. She had only made it up one floor and was heading down the hall to the next staircase when, without warning, a hand shot out of the darkness behind her and grabbed her wrist, dragging her off into a quiet, empty room further down the hallway. Before Miriam could even react, she found herself alone in a room with the king of Great Cimaron. The only ways out were the door they had just entered (and which the King blocked), or a jump off the balcony (the entrance to which was on the opposite side of the room).

"I must say, despite all your pretty words tonight about being honored to have us here, you certainly are an insulting wench," he said, raking his eyes over her black-clad form.

"I wasn't aware I had done anything to insult you. After all, you are the one sneaking about someone else's castle and pulling unsuspecting young women into rooms alone with you, not me," she spat in reply.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "No, but then, you hardly look capable of such a thing. I have nothing to fear from you, do I?" He prowled around her like a cat leisurely stalking its prey. "You have no experience doing this sort of thing, I suspect you lack much knowledge of your own nation, and there's only so much that pansy adviser of yours can do for you."

"Do _not_ insult my friends," Miriam hissed dangerously. "You are hardly endearing yourself to me. State what you want and get out."

"Oh don't worry, I don't want anything complicated, little girl. Just a reassurance from you that Great Cimaron will continue to have a favorable alliance with Shin Makoku, that's all."

Miriam inched away from him, moving towards the glass doors and the balcony beyond. "And you think this is the way to get such an assurance?"

"My apologies, but it's the only way I could see you alone, since someone had the _nerve _to refuse my request for a private audience. That pansy adviser of yours, I would assume," the king sneered.

Miriam gave him a tight, humorless smile. She had backed right against the wall by now. Pressing down on the latch that kept the door shut, she backed onto the balcony, only stopping when she reached the railing. Below her, the sounds of the feast winding down floated out of the banquet hall, letting her know that she hadn't miscalculated -- this room was indeed right over the banquet hall, just as she had suspected. Now, if only someone she knew would show up…yes, there. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a head covered in bright golden hair bob into view. Wolfram, it seemed, was going to stroll through the garden. "That adviser's name is Gunter, not that you deserve the right to say it," she said, slowly working her foot out of one of her flat dress shoes. Once her foot was free, she started pushing the shoe back towards the edge of the balcony. "And I chose to refuse that request for an audience on my own." For a moment, it felt like the short train of her gown's full skirt was going to bunch up and prevent her hastily-constructed plan from working, but then the material gave way as the shoe's heel forced it through the gap between the balcony's floor and the top of the railing. "Given the way you're behaving right now," she said, giving the shoe one last nudge and sending it flying to the ground below, "I'm quite glad that I did. Now, I would strongly suggest that you find a reason to leave Shin Makoku early, preferably before breakfast." She heard a sharp curse from Wolfram, who had left her line of vision while she was concentrating on maneuvering her shoe. He reappeared in the area she could see out of the corner of her eye, paused for a moment, then suddenly vanished back into the castle. It was all up to him now. "The sooner you leave, the more likely I am to give consideration to your request, and the more likely that I will agree to it."

The king narrowed his eyes at her. "You dare to think you can manipulate me so easily?"

"Well, I could be more direct I suppose, so here it is: Leave. Now," she snapped.

"Oh, but we haven't reached an agreement yet, little one. And we haven't even had a chance for fun." He raised his hand, for what purpose Miriam didn't want to know --

-- when her lost shoe flew out of the room behind him and hit him squarely on the back of his head. The king let out a low growl and turned, only to find himself face-to-face with the sword-brandishing quartet of Wolfram, Conrad, Gunter, and Gwendal.

"What in the name of all that is sacred in this world do you think you're doing?" Gwendal spat.

"You have no right to be here!" Gunter added. "Maou-Heika, if you command him to leave, we'll see to it that he does."

"Good. I want him gone. Now." Conrad stepped forward, took the king's arm, and propelled him into the dark room. Two figures appeared -- Yozak and Dorcas, Miriam thought -- and led the angrily protesting king away. Once he was gone, all eyes turned to Miriam, who was slipping her foot back into her beaded flat. "Are you hurt?" Conrad asked.

"No, just a little scared, I guess." She looked up and gave Wolfram an apologetic smile. "Sorry about the shoe," she said. "It was the only way I could think of to get anyone's attention."

"Don't worry about it, there's no permanent damage," Wolfram said, rubbing his head gingerly.

"You're very lucky things worked in your favor, though," Gwendal said. "The King of Great Cimaron is a dangerous man. I never thought he would try to do something like this, though."

Miriam nodded. "I know you didn't. Everything is fine now."

"What did he want?" Gunter asked.

"To get the private audience he asked for," Miriam replied grimly. "He wanted to discuss reassurances that Shin Makoku and Great Cimaron would continue having positive relations."

Wolfram snorted. "This is hardly the way for him to get that."

"I know. I told him I would be more likely to consider his request if he left, but it didn't work." She sighed. "It's too late to worry about this now. I need sleep. It can be dealt with in the morning."


	10. Yuuri's Musings and Miriam's Majutsu

I'm back! Well, sort of -- I just happen to have good internet access today, and though I'd post a new chapter for those of you who are still reading this and have been so very patient with me. Please, let me know what you think...reviews make me smile.**  
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**Chapter 10: Yuuri's Musings and Miriam's Majutsu**

Yuuri tore his eyes away from the pages of Wolfram's diary just long enough to glance out the window. The moon was still high in the sky -- Wolfram's diary was interesting reading, and Yuuri had begun quite early in the evening. He still had many hours to go, and plenty to occupy himself. But first, he needed to go check on Wolfram.

He made his way back through the sitting room that connected the two offices to the large bedroom, and quietly crossed the open area between the door and the bed. Wolfram lay there, struggling to breathe, just as unconscious as he had been when Yuuri first saw him. The black-haired former Maou watched his old friend sleep, letting his eyes wander over the room and the bed. He was just about to go back to the office and start reading the journal again when a glint of light caught his eye. Leaning closer to the bed, he saw that a small shaft of moonlight sliced across the blanket, falling over Wolfram's pale left hand and making the narrow gold band on his third finger shine. Slowly, Yuuri reached out, lifted Wolfram's hand, and slipped the ring off his finger, studying it carefully. He brought it over to the window so he could see better, and in the moonlight he was just able to make out the two sets of initials -- W. V. B and M. W. -- etched inside the ring, along with a date. He sighed and shook his head sadly. Apparently he had found Wolfram's wedding ring. He took a moment to ponder the question of whose idea wedding rings had been, Wolfram's or Miriam's, before returning the ring to its spot on Wolfram's finger and slipping silently from the bedroom to continue reading the diary. He knew from talking to Odelia and seeing the ring that Wolfram and Miriam had married, but so far, the diary indicated that their relationship had been anything but a fairy-tale love-at-first-site affair.

Yuuri made a few quick stops on his way back to the office to search for candles. He found a few new ones in a drawer in the sitting room, then went back to Wolfram's study and set the candles on the table by the candelabra. He didn't need them yet, but before the night was over he was certain he would. Finally content that he had everything he needed, Yuuri turned his attention once more to the diary and began to read. He skimmed over a few entries detailing mundane, everyday events, stopped to give a more in-depth reading to an entry explaining why Greta had been gone from the diary all this time (it seemed that she, Gisela, and Anissina had gone on an educational trip together, and Wolfram had just gotten a letter from his daughter concerning the trip), before finally arriving at a long, interesting entry dated six months after Miriam's coronation. There, once again, he was drawn in by one important word -- "majutsu."

_I thought we had settled the issue of whether or not Miriam was the true Maou. Of course, nothing is ever that easy around here, is it? Gunter is getting nervous because she hasn't shown any signs of performing majutsu. And when Gunter is nervous, we all know it…_

_--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---_

"Gunter, really, I have no idea what you're on about," Wolfram said from where he was lounging in a chair, attempting to read a book.

"Majutsu, Wolfram, majutsu. Specifically, Miriam-Heika's complete lack of any ability to perform even the simplest of spells."

Gwendal sighed and rubbed his temples as though trying to ward off a headache. "She is the Maou, Gunter. I'm certain she has more than enough maryoku to perform majutsu if she just puts her mind to it."

"But that's the problem, Gwendal! How am I supposed to approach the subject with her? She is quite touchy about things as it is…there are still people who don't want to accept her as the Maou, you know…and we still have no idea whether or not she has even a single Mazoku parent…how am I supposed to go about asking her if she can perform majutsu?"

Cheri-sama coughed. "I don't think it's such a big deal if she can't Gunter. After all, my maryoku and majutsu are very weak and I was still Maou!"

Gwendal let out a low rumble before saying, "There is a large difference between having weak majutsu and not having any majutsu, Mother. Ever since the days of Shinou himself, it has been assumed that the Maou would be able to wield some form of majutsu."

"It doesn't have to be strong majutsu," Gunter agreed, "but she must have some skill. Anything. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if she was a wind user, like me? Ah, Heika!" Gwendal gave Gunter a sour look, but the royal adviser either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

Wolfram sighed, sat up straighter, and set his book down on the table beside his chair. "So why don't we just go ask her, and if she can't answer, we start training her? Conrad is teaching her to use a sword, right? We can devote some of those lessons to using majutsu instead."

"When did you get so sensible?" Gwendal asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Who said anything about being sensible? I'm just tired of _him_ running around depressed because of this," Wolfram said, jerking his chin at Gunter.

And with that, the matter was settled. When Miriam returned from her sword fighting lesson with Conrad that afternoon, Gunter immediately tracked her down and began questioning her about majutsu. Everyone, even Gunter, had expected her to be confused by the question and to not know what majutsu was. Nobody had expected her reaction when Gunter explained majutsu.

She laughed. Right in Gunter's face.

"Oh Gunter, nobody told me you could be so funny! Me, able to do magic. That's rich."

Gunter frowned at her. "I am quite serious about this, Miriam-Heika. It is very important for the Maou to be able to control some form of majutsu, even if that control is very weak."

"Majutsu allowed Wolfram to bring out your ability to speak our language," Gwendal said.

"There, you see, it can be quite practical!" Gunter said cheerfully.

Miriam winced. "Yeah, about that…what he did hurt, a lot. Is majutsu always that painful?"

"No," Conrad said. "It seems to be mostly a side-effect of that particular spell. Yuuri mentioned it being painful as well, after Adelbert performed it on him."

She sighed, choosing to ignore the mention of a person she didn't know yet so she could focus all of her attention on the issue at hand. "Looks like you're all serious about this," she said dryly. "Okay, fine. I don't know how to perform any majutsu, so I suppose we need to add that to the list of things I need to learn, Gunter."

"Already done, Heika," he said. "Starting tomorrow, you will only have three lessons in sword fighting each week. The other three will be devoted to learning majutsu, and you will keep your day of rest as usual."

"Oh. Well, then, it's a settled I suppose." Miriam tried to sound nonchalant, but her stomach was twisting in knots the whole time. What other surprises lay in store for her? Would they ever stop coming?

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

After a week of lessons in using majutsu, Miriam still hadn't made any progress. They had tried everything; Gunter had attempted to coax the majutsu out of her with talking, meditation, and some variation on the divination potion that had left him and Gwendal laughing like lunatics so long ago. Gwendal himself had holed up in the library to dig through books searching for tips on teaching the use of majutsu, but he couldn't find anything helpful. Wolfram got bored with everyone's efforts and decided to try to scare the majutsu out of Miriam by throwing some fireballs at her, but all that accomplished was burning some of Gunter's prize roses and scaring the living daylights out of the Maou, who spent the next five minutes sobbing and screaming at him from the relative safety of Yozak's arms to never do anything like that again. Wolfram retreated to the quiet safety of the castle, feeling terrible about what he had done. Later, Gunter would reassure him that it had been worth a try, but would also point out that something so dangerous should never be done.

Miriam went to bed that night with a serious case of nerves (from Wolfram throwing a fireball at her without warning) and a headache (from all of her efforts at performing even a small feat of majutsu). Her sleep that night was almost constantly interrupted by strange dreams bordering on nightmares, and she woke up several times completely confused about where she was and looking for people from at home on Earth. Each time, she would fall back against her pillows, struggling to regain control of her breathing and to push the strange images from her mind so she could actually sleep. And each time she would manage to fall back to sleep, the dreams would start up again.

That was why, when her door slammed open the following morning, she thought she was still in the midst of a terrible dream. It wasn't until her sheets were torn away and she was dragged into a sitting position on the edge of her bed that she realized it was all real.

"The idea of a Maou unable to use majutsu is simply unacceptable!" a strange woman's voice declared loudly and firmly. "I am certain that one of my inventions can solve this problem!"

"Anissina, please be more quiet, it's obvious she was trying to sleep," another strange woman's voice -- this one much gentler and more pleasant -- said.

Miriam blinked blearily and looked up at her surprise visitors. It seemed that the entire household, including the maids, Yozak, and Dorcas, had crowded into her room, along with three strangers. Miriam had a sudden vivid mental image of a scene in a movie about Marie Antoinette, where all of the woman in the palace would gather in Marie's room each morning to "help" her get dressed. So far, nothing like that had happened here, but one could never be too careful. She reached up to push a hand off her shoulder and turned to glare at the person who had dared to wake her up in a less-than-gentle manner, and instead found herself recoiling in shock.

"Gah!"

"Gah? Is that a greeting where you come from?" the woman asked.

"Your hair!" Miriam exclaimed. "It's…fluorescent pink!"

The pink-haired woman blinked in confusion. "Fluorescent?"

"Never mind. Who the hell are you, and why the hell is everyone in my room? I'm not even dressed!"

"I'm sorry, Heika," Gunter's plaintive voice came from the back of the group, "but she wouldn't listen to reason!"

Miriam craned her neck to see over Yozak and Conrad, who seemed to be forming a barrier between the pink-haired woman and Gunter and Gwendal, who were huddled much closer together than Miriam had ever expected to see them. Gunter looked absolutely terrified, and Gwendal was sweating so badly that dark blotches were showing up on his otherwise perfectly clean shirt. Even Wolfram looked a little nervous, though he was occupied with what appeared to be a young girl, and had thus stayed out of things so far.

Miriam frowned and drew herself up to her full sitting height, fixing the pink-haired woman with her most authoritative look. "Alright. Who are you, where did you come from, and what do you want with me? That goes for you too," she said, glancing over at her other surprise guest (this one with green hair), "and for that girl with you, Wolfram."

The pink-haired woman smiled, which didn't comfort Miriam at all, and declared, "I am Anissina von Khrennikov, mazoku and inventor! I create useful inventions that utilize and amplify one's maryoku! Gunter and Gwendal usually help me test my inventions."

"I see," the Maou said, glancing at her adviser and his friend. Gunter had become even more pale, and Gwendal was starting to sway a bit. "And where exactly have you been all this time?"

"On an exploration of discovery! An inventor like me needs constant inspiration, after all."

The green-haired woman cleared her throat and gave Miriam a small bow. "I'm Gisela von Christ, a military medic and the official doctor of the Royal Household."

"I see." Miriam paused. "Wait, von Christ? Are you related to Gunter?"

Gisela smiled. "He's my father."

Miriam's dark eyes widened, and she stared back and forth between Gunter and Gisela for a moment before Gunter finally stepped forward (without leaving the protection of Conrad and Yozak's barrier) and said, "Gisela is my adopted daughter, Miriam-Heika."

"Oh, that's cool!" Miriam exclaimed, grinning broadly. "I've always thought adoption was great."

"You'll be happy about her then, too," Wolfram said, nodding to the young girl beside him. "This is Greta. Yuuri and I adopted her a few years ago, but I'm the only one left with her now."

"Well, now that you know who we all are, I think we should go try out my new invention!" Anissina said. Gunter and Gwendal recoiled a bit further. "I think it will be just the thing to bring your majutsu out!"

"What?" Miriam asked.

"NO!" Gunter shouted, pushing past Conrad and Yozak and flinging himself between Miriam and Anissina. "It's bad enough when you test your inventions on me or Gwendal, but this is the Maou! You could hurt her!"

Anissina waved her hand dismissively. "Nonsense! When have my inventions ever hurt you or Gwendal?"

Gwendal's eye twitched. "I could name a few times…"

"Getting tired because you aren't strong enough to make my inventions work properly does not count," Anissina declared. "Now, Heika!" She grabbed Miriam's wrist and yanked her off the bed, dragging the poor girl after her as she left the room and headed down the hall. "We'll bring that majutsu out of you in no time!"

Miriam struggled against Anissina's vice-like grip, figuring that if this one woman was bad enough to scare both Gwendal and Gunter, she must be terrifying. "Gunter! Help!" she called.

"Don't worry, Heika, I'll save you!" Gunter shouted back. "If I can figure out how…" he muttered, turning a scared face to Gwendal.

The other man shook his head, dark ponytail swaying this way and that. "She's doomed."


	11. Inventions and Discoveries

Dun-dun-DUN! Miriam has finally discovered Anissina...and Anissina has plans for her...what will she do? What will happen to her? Will she survive Anissina's inventions? Will Gunter and Gwendal stop being scared of Anissina? Readon to find out!

* * *

**Chapter 11: Inventions and Discoveries**

Anissina flung open the door of her private laboratory and pulled Miriam inside, guiding her to a chair and pushing her into it, completely ignoring the Maou's protests every step of the way. She grinned, a look that Miriam thought was supposed to be reassuring but instead struck her as borderline terrifying, and turned to a large, box-like object resting on a nearby table. "I designed this while on the boat passing Bandarbia, and when we stopped to take on provisions I bought the materials to make it. My glorious invention will surely bring out your majutsu in no time, Heika!"

Miriam eyes the box doubtfully. "Er..what is it?"

"The Box of Evil, Bringing Out Your Reluctant Majutsu-kun!" Anissina declared. She pressed a button on the top of the box, and its lid sprang open. She stuck her hands into the device and pulled out a circlet made out of many twisted wires, from which several other wires trailed and disappeared into the box. Anissina placed the circlet on Miriam's head and opened a compartment on the box's side, unfolding a long handle that could be pumped. Once the handle had been snapped into place, Anissina turned her attention to finding someone to work the invention. At that very moment, in a fine display of terrible timing, Wolfram stalked into the room. The others were huddled together out in the hallway, watching with wide, scared eyes as the youngest son of a former Maou went to confront the most frightening woman in Blood Pledge Castle.

"Anissina, we need to talk! You can't --"

"Oh, Wolfram, what excellent timing you have! Come now, someone needs to power Bringing Out Your Reluctant Majutsu-kun." Anissina pointed to the box's handle. "Come, come! We don't have all day! Lend us your maryoku to help Maou-Heika achieve her full potential!"

Wolfram sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anissina, this is _not_ going to work, and I am _not_ going to touch that…thing!"

Anissina's eyes flashed dangerously. "My invention is no mere _thing_, Wolfram! You need to watch your language around me!"

"I don't _care_ if you think it's a thing or not, I am _not_ going to be your guinea pig, and neither is Miriam!"

"Oh?" Anissina's bright-pink eyebrow twitched over her electric blue eyes. For her part, Miriam blinked up at Wolfram in surprise. He had never seen any reason to defend her before.

"Oh!" Wolfram confirmed. He stalked forward, pulled the wire circlet from Miriam's head, and tossed it onto the table. "Come on, you must have other things to do today," he said to her.

But their escape wasn't going to be so easy. As soon as Wolfram turned to lead Miriam out, Anissina planted herself firmly in front of the door, arms held out to either side. She wasn't about to let them pass. "You are not leaving here without trying my invention! Tell me, Maou-Heika, have lessons in using majutsu helped?"

Miriam shook her head. "No…"

"Spells? Potions? Trying to startle you into using majutsu?"

"Er…no, those, haven't worked either…"

"Then you need my invention!" Anissina declared, stepping forward and grabbing Miriam's left wrist.

"No, she doesn't!" Wolfram exclaimed, grabbing Miriam's right wrist.

In the hallway, Gunter let out a little wail. "Really now, this is getting out of hand! Anissina, just let her go!"

"I will not!" the inventor said.

"You most certainly will!" Miriam shouted. Without warning, she yanked her hands from both Anissina's and Wolfram's grasps and turned on the other woman, hands raised and palms facing out. For an instant, nothing happened. Then, her hands glowed a brilliant yellow, and suddenly Anissina was flung across the room into the wall, landing in a heap on the floor. Miriam panted for breath and swayed on the spot, but Wolfram grabbed her shoulders and kept her from falling. Miriam shook her head violently, then looked up at him and blinked. "What happened?"

Gwendal and Gunter finally entered the laboratory. Gwendal went to help Anissina, while Gunter examined Miriam's hands. "You used majutsu, Heika," he said softly. "I knew you could, under the right conditions."

"So, I need to be standing in the middle of a laboratory, in my nightgown, with Anissina and Wolfram using me for a game of tug-of-war, while everyone else just stands there and watches before I can use majutsu?"

"No. I think…well, Yuuri needed to be angry before he could use majutsu. Maybe you just need to be very annoyed."

"Ah," she said dryly, rubbing her hands and staring at them as though she had never seen them before. "Well, that's certainly going to make diplomacy interesting."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Later that night, after dinner, Miriam slipped away from everyone in the castle to go for a solitary stroll through the garden. She never got to do enough of that. There was almost always someone else with her, and it got to be stifling after a while. Gunter and the others had good intentions, but even Maous need their space.

She followed the neatly-laid path to one of her favorite spots -- Gunter's garden, filled with some of the rarest roses in Shin Makoku, all of them surrounding a little open-air gazebo beside a medium-sized fish pond. There was a nice bench for relaxing inside the gazebo, and Miriam was looking forward to sprawling across it and watching the fish in the pond. But when she rounded the corner in the path, she stopped short and frowned. Over some of the shorter bushes, she caught a glimpse of a blond head inside the gazebo, occupying the bench she wanted for herself. Her first instinct was to flounce away in a huff and find somewhere else to sit, but then she decided that there was something better to do. Based on the hair, the person in the gazebo was Wolfram, and she hadn't yet thanked him for his role in freeing her from Anissina's laboratory that morning. This was her chance.

She followed the path through the bushes to the back of the gazebo, then followed the outside of the small structure's foundation until she came to the front, right beside the pond. Wolfram was thoroughly engrossed in painting something, and didn't even notice Miriam's presence at first. But finally, he glanced up to take another look at his subject, and found Miriam standing there quietly, admiring some of the fish in the pond.

"When did you get here?"

Miriam looked up at him, then went back to studying the fish. "A couple minutes ago. What are you painting?"

Wolfram waved her over. "The garden and the pond. I used to paint portraits, before Yuuri left, but I wasn't very good at it." He chuckled. "I think people used to say I was so I wouldn't get angry and burn them."

The Maou looked at him, eyes wide in shock. "You would really do that?"

"Well, not really, but I did have quite a temper. Still do, I guess, just not as bad as before." Wolfram dipped his brush back in the paint and started painting again. "What are you doing here?"

Miriam shrugged and went to stand behind Wolfram's right shoulder, so she could watch him paint. "My original plan was to spend some time alone. Gunter follows me everywhere, you know, and it gets hard sometimes. But then I saw you, and realized I never thanked you for this morning."

The blond paused and twisted around to look up at her, blinking his green eyes in confusion. "What about this morning?"

"You know, trying to save me from Anissina. I figure she must be dangerous if her very presence turns Gwendal and Gunter both into quivering lumps of mazoku Jell-O like that."

Wolfram laughed, a clear, melodic sound that rang happily through the garden and startled a few birds off a nearby tree. "Ah, Anissina's alright. She's not dangerous at all, and I guess that's part of the problem. See," he paused and nudged his chair away from the easel so he could sit sideways and look at Miriam with greater comfort, "she's always making these…inventions. Supposedly they can only be used by mazoku, and they use maryoku to work. She'll invent things like platforms you have to jump on to create an earthquake powerful enough to shake your enemies to their knees. Now, Anissina's a smart woman, and she's done some pretty useful stuff -- if you want a really long-winded story, ask Gunter about the times Anissina had to freeze his body. But those big inventions of hers, like the earthquake-maker and whatever the hell it was she tried to use on you today…those _never_ work, and her guinea pig winds up exhausted in the process. So Gunter and Gwendal like Anissina, and so do I, but the idea of being made to help her test her inventions is terrifying."

Miriam pondered this for a moment. "So, what if the Maou were to order her to do something more useful with herself?"

"Nah. She'll either ignore you, or find a way to work on her own inventions anyway. Anissina's pretty headstrong like that. Although," he added thoughtfully, "she might be more willing to listen to you because you're a woman…and you have to admit, she was kind of right about her invention today. It did help bring out your majutsu."

Miriam raised an eyebrow and gave Wolfram a quizzical look, which only prompted more laughter from him. She rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, throwing a look up at the sky. "It's getting late," she said, noticing the deep pink and gold staining the few clouds in the otherwise clear sky. "I'm going back inside. You coming?"

"Sure. Just let me pack up and put this in a safe place. I don't want to carry a wet painting."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

And so it was that the last of the negative tension between Wolfram and Miriam vanished, to be replaced by a vibrant friendship. In the days and weeks immediately following Anissina's return to the castle, she would credit her invention for both doing its job of bringing forth Miriam's majutsu and for forging a friendship between Miriam and Wolfram. As contradicting Anissina was generally considered to be dangerous and a one-way ticket to becoming her latest guinea pig, Miriam settled for letting her think what she wanted. After all, as Maou and Gunter's student, she had bigger things to worry about.

A few days after Anissina, Gisela, and Greta returned to the castle, Yozak and a company of soldiers set off to patrol Shin Makoku's borders. Miriam sent him off with her blessing and an order to report back at least one a week or whenever something of interest was discovered. As the summer faded into autumn and winter approached, Miriam found herself grateful for Yozak's sense of humor -- his letters had nothing of interest to report, as things were pretty quiet along the border. Instead, her filled his letters with stories and jokes to entertain the folks back home.

And then, the morning of the first frost ("Oh, my roses! My roses!" Gunter wailed before racing into the garden to help the groundskeepers cover his prized flowers so they wouldn't die), a fresh letter arrived from Yozak a few days before it was expected. Miriam was having tea in her office when Wolfram barged in, waving Yozak's latest letter before him. "Miriam! We have a new letter from Yozak!"

"Oh? What's the problem? It's a little early, but --"

"Read it," Wolfram said grimly. "Great Cimaron is causing trouble again."

Miriam's dark eyes flew over the letter, slowing every so often when she hit a difficult word, but still making quick work of the note. She finished, took a deep breath, and looked up at Wolfram. "So. Yozak thinks they're amassing an invasion force. But why? We didn't do anything to them."

Wolfram leaned forward and planted his hands on her desk. "It doesn't matter. They've always had their eyes on Shin Makoku. And remember what happened at your coronation feast, when the king tried to force you into a private meeting? This has probably been heating up for months."

Miriam stood and turned away from Wolfram, staring out her window and watching Gunter flitter about his garden, worrying about the flowers near her window. With a sudden burst of determination, Miriam flung her window open and shouted, "Gunter! Get up here, I need you."

"Oh! Right away, Heika!" Gunter called back. He disappeared from her view, and she turned back to Wolfram. "I need your brothers and your mother too. Might as well bring Anissina and Gisela into this as well, the more opinions I can get the better." Wolfram gave her a curt nod and stalked out to find the others. Within minutes, they were all gathered in Miriam's larger public office, jockeying for seats or places to stand. Miriam gave them a moment to get settled, then handed Yozak's letter to Conrad for him to read and pass around. The young soldier's face settled into a scowl as he read the letter, then passed it to Gwendal, who held it so that both he and Gunter could read it. While the others waited to see the actual letter Miriam gave them a brief run-down of its contents.

"According to that letter, Yozak is on the border with Great Cimaron at the moment. His observations indicate that a large number of soldiers are gathering on the Great Cimaron side of the border as we speak, though we do not yet know their purpose. Yozak is concerned that this is the prelude to an invasion."

"If it is, it's rather clumsy of them," Gunter said, passing the letter along to his daughter.

"Clumsy, but highly visible, which may be the point," Gwendal mused. "They are trying to pressure you into responding, Heika."

Wolfram snorted. "Do they really think this is the way to maintain positive relations with us?"

"Their king can't be that much of an idiot," Miriam said. "Gathering an army is a step away from declaring war."

"He must intend to pressure you into something else, then," Gwendal said. "Or he may believe that attempts at diplomacy have failed, and he is now using other means to get what he wants."

Miriam turned to study the map of Shin Makoku hanging on the wall beside her desk. She paced towards it, dark eyes lazily tracing the lines marking off borders, then tapped the map with one fingertip. "Where did Yozak say he was seeing this, again?"

"Here, Heika," Gunter said, joining her beside the map and running his own finger over a short stretch of the border. "It's not very far from here, really. By the shortest route, if one traveled through the night, it would only take a day or so to get there."

Conrad nodded. "That's why Yozak left it to the end. He knew he would be coming back close to winter, and wanted to make that part of the trip as short as possible."

"Fine. If it's that close, I'm going there myself."

For a moment, all was silent. Then the room exploded in protests.

"Are you insane?" Wolfram exclaimed.

"Heika, you can't, it's not safe!" Gunter wailed.

"Just when I thought you were going to be an intelligent Maou, you propose a scheme like this," Gwendal rumbled.

Miriam gave a curt wave of her hand to silence everyone once more. "It's obvious they're trying to intimidate me. What am I supposed to do, hide in Blood Pledge Castle until the nasty king of Great Cimaron takes his toys and goes home? Do any of you really think ignoring this will work?" The others glanced at each other nervously, but they had no answer for her. She sighed. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm not going to try to attack anyone or fight anyone off on my own. But they need to know that I know about this and won't stand for it, and me going there to tell them is about as direct as it can get. Now, you can come with me and help me out, or you can stay here and worry. Which is it going to be?"

Gunter didn't wait more than a moment before answering. "Your determination is like a ray of light on a dark day, Heika. Of course I'll go with you."

"Can't let him have all the fun," Wolfram said, jerking his chin at Gunter. "I'm going as well."

"As are we," Conrad added, motioning to himself and Gwendal, who nodded.

"Gisela and I will accompany you as well, of course," Anissina said. Gunter and Gwendal immediately paled at that announcement.

Cheri-sama glanced around at the others and pursed her lips. "Someone needs to stay here and take care of the Castle and Greta. I will do that."

Miriam gave her a grateful smile. "Good. I know I can leave things to you, Cheri-sama."


	12. The Maou's Strength

Yikes, I've got a nasty case of jet lag. Good thing I wrote this chapter a while ago -- it'll actually make sense and (hopefully) be fun. So, in this chapter, Great Cimaron causes trouble, Miriam kicks ass, and Wolfram is cute. Enjoy, and don't forget to review (I've loved the new ones!).

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**Chapter 12: The Maou's Strength**

"You should sleep. Getting to the camp and collapsing from exhaustion won't do you any good," Wolfram whispered.

"I can't. This seat his hard and it vibrates, dammit. You'd think they could make the Maou's personal carriage more comfortable," Miriam, sitting beside him, grumbled back.

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "Tell Anissina to invent a more comfortable carriage seat when we get back."

Miriam snorted. "Somehow, I think that would be an absolute disaster."

"I think you're right." Silence descended on the occupants of the carriage once more. Wolfram pushed one of the velvet curtains covering a window aside and looked out. Through the window, he and Miriam could just make out the silhouette of Gwendal, tall and proud on his horse, providing an extra layer of protection for Miriam, Wolfram, and Gunter (all in the first carriage) and Gisela, Anissina, and Conrad (occupying a second one just behind the first). Miriam knew they would be stopping soon so he could trade places with Gunter, and that he wouldn't be too happy to find that she was still awake. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance.

Wolfram glanced at her, then let the curtain fall shut again, stood, and crossed the carriage in a single step. There, he nudged Gunter's feet out of the way and settled onto the bench opposite Miriam. "There. Now, lie down and get some sleep, or I'll tell Gwendal you were awake all this time," he said.

Miriam just nodded and gave him a small, grateful smile before adjusting a couple of the loose pillows on her carriage bench and lying down. Despite the jostling and the hardness of the bench, Miriam somehow fell asleep and didn't even noticed when they stopped to let Gunter and Gwendal switch places.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Her arrival at Yozak's camp early the next morning was calm and quiet, as per the orders she had sent ahead. Gwendal had suggested a quiet arrival so as not to draw attention to herself, as it would give them that much longer to assess the situation for themselves before actually making a move. Yozak and Dorcas met the group on the road and led them to a secluded clump of trees, where he had set up a relatively large, comfortable tent for them. Gwendal at first declared the location to be too secluded because he couldn't see the enemies from here, but Yozak pointed out that the enemies couldn't see them either and thus couldn't tell that the Maou had arrived. Gwendal was forced to admit defeat on that point, and followed the others into the tent for a meeting.

"What's been happening since you sent the letter, Yozak?" Miriam asked after everyone had had a chance to exchange greetings.

"More soldiers arrive each day," he said. "We've managed to count almost two thousand men total, and I bet there's more on the way."

"Only two thousand? They can't expect to invade us with so few," Wolfram said with disdain.

"Normally, you'd be right, but these look to be elite soldiers," Yozak said. "A couple thousand of them can do the same amount of damage as a bigger army."

Miriam rubbed her chin. "Yeah, but still, how much damage can two thousand do?"

"That would depend on their goal," Gunter mused. "If they are trying to take over Shin Makoku, not a lot. If they are simply trying to discredit you, Heika, two thousand men may be able to cause sufficient damage."

"Especially with the way rumors travel and grow," Conrad pointed out. "All our citizens will need to know is that a foreign force tried to invade our land. Great Cimaron's king was probably counting on you to stay home and let others handle this. He could have twisted that to his own ends very nicely."

"Indeed," Miriam murmured. "Yozak, have you been able to identify a commander for the gathering troops?"

"We have a few suspected leaders, but nothing else."

"That's enough. I'd like to see the soldiers first. Then, after lunch, I'll make an appearance."

Gunter balked. "Heika --"

"No arguments, Gunter. I didn't come out here for nothing. Those men are going home, and I'm going to send them there myself." Nobody had ever heard Miriam sound so determined in all the months she had been living in Shin Makoku. It sent a shiver down Wolfram's spine, and brought a new determination to the rest of the group.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

After their meeting in the tent, Miriam donned a carefully-chosen disguise and followed Yozak, Conrad, and Gunter on a miniature inspection tour of the camp. Following that, Yozak led the small group to a narrow road that extended as far as they could see in either direction, curving around to enter a forest to the east and disappearing over a ridge in the west. On the other side of the road, about a hundred yards away, was the edge of the camp occupied by Great Cimaron's forces.

"Where exactly is the border?" Miriam murmured.

"Right down the middle of that road," Conrad murmured back.

"This is an old trade road," Gunter added. "It is no longer used for trade, of course -- we have wider roads and well-established ocean routes for that. But in the earliest days of both Shin Makoku and Great Cimaron, this trade road was built to ferry goods between the two nations. This stretch of the road was built right on the border, and it was out of fairness to both nations that the border was officially declared to run down the center of the road."

Miriam nodded. "I see. And whose territory are we in right now?"

"The territory of the Von Christ tribe," Gunter said.

"Ah. Should I be leaving this to you to deal with, then?"

Gunter smiled. "No. You are the Maou. As such, you have every right to be doing whatever needs to be done within the boundaries of Shin Makoku, even to the point of overriding the Ten Aristocratic Tribes."

Miriam pondered that in silence for a moment. "But what if I do something wrong?" she finally whispered.

Gunter shook his head, making his lavender hair sway gently. "You will not."

"I'm not perfect. What if I do? Will you stop me?"

"Will you give me your permission, now, to do whatever it takes in the future should you stray from the right path?" Gunter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," Miriam said, without even a hint of hesitation.

"Then of course I will stop you, if the need arises," Gunter said. "But," he added, "I am also certain it will never come to that."

"We all trust you, kid," Yozak said. "You won't let us down."

Miriam turned to face the edge of Great Cimaron's camp, studying the tents with a stony gaze. "I hope I won't," she said. "But I wasn't asking this just to talk, I was asking for a reason. Right now, we're on Shin Makoku soil, but that camp over there is still in Great Cimaron, right?"

"Right," Conrad confirmed.

Miriam turned and started slowly walking back to her own camp, with the others trailing behind. "Ok, so, that means that, if I were to do anything by way of trying to get them to leave, that could be construed as hostile on my part, right?"

"It is possible," Gunter said.

"Then I think it's best for me to just sit tight and see what happens," Miriam said. "But if even one soldier over there sets so much as a toe on our land, there will be hell to pay, I promise you."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

For three days, all was peaceful and somewhat tedious at the camp. Anissina got bored on the second day and volunteered to take a message back to the Castle in person. Miriam prepared a letter for Cheri-sama while Wolfram wrote a quick note to Greta. Both were entrusted to Anissina, who headed off in the early hours of the morning on the third day. Gwendal went out to patrol the border shortly after she left and returned just before noon to report that the Great Cimaron soldiers appeared to be preparing to leave. Several tents had already been removed by the time Gwendal began his patrol, and he had watched as many more were taken down, folded, and packed neatly away. After lunch, he brought a disguised Miriam back to the border so she could see the activity for herself. Indeed, it appeared that the Great Cimaron soldiers were finally going home, and without Miriam or anyone else from Shin Makoku lifting a finger against them.

Thus is was that Miriam had no idea what was going on when she awoke shortly after midnight to find Yozak gently shaking her shoulder and hissing her name.

"What's going on?" she hissed back, once she had woken up enough to realize who was trying to wake her up.

"Things are heating up outside. You need to come see this, and Gwendal said you shouldn't bother with a disguise either. Oh, and take Morgif."

Miriam scrambled out of bed, pulled on some warm clothes as quickly as she could, and grabbed Morgif from its spot by the tent door as she followed Yozak outside. It had snowed a little since she had gone to bed, and the many disturbed spots in the snow told her that a lot of activity had been happening in the camp. "Ok, again, what's going on?"

"A bunch of us have been trading off watch duties all night," Yozak explained. "Gwendal was just coming up to relieve me when some of Great Cimaron's soldiers crossed the road and entered Shin Makoku. I don't know how many more there are or even if these guys are acting on official orders. Gwendal told me to go get you before I could find out."

By the time they arrived at the road, Conrad, Gunter, Wolfram, and Gisela had joined Gwendal and a few Shin Makoku soldiers in holding off seven tall, burly men from Great Cimaron. The men all wore matching uniforms except for one, their leader, whose uniform was the same color as his subordinates but was far more ornate. His uniform was the closest thing to something from Earth Miriam had seen in months -- it reminded her of a Marine's dress uniform, and the man's chest was covered with enough medals to make her wonder how many wars he had seen. This didn't strike her as a man to be taken lightly. All eyes turned to her as she approached.

"This better be good," she growled. "I was dragged out of bed to deal with this."

The man raked his eyes over her short, stocky form and snorted with disdain. "This is the leader you kept us here for? She doesn't look like she could lead anyone at anything, except maybe eating. Boys, when was the last time you saw fat like that on a girl?" Miriam's face turned bright red while the man and his subordinates burst into raucous laughter. Beside Miriam, Yozak began muttering threats. Conrad's hand moved to his sword's hilt, while Gwendal, Gunter, and Wolfram shook with suppressed rage.

"How dare you speak about her like that!" Wolfram said.

"Oh look, the little prince is scolding us," one of the subordinate soldiers jeered.

"Carefully, pretty prince, or you'll get your clothes dirty dealing with us," a second added.

Miriam stalked forward until she was right in front of the group's leader. "That is quite enough," she said, her voice threatening and angry. "It's one thing to insult me, it's quite another for you to insult my friends. Now, I'm going to tell you this once: leave now, take all of your Men with you, and make sure you tell your king that the Maou of Shin Makoku will no longer stand for this sort of behavior. The next time you amass an army on our border, it will be treated as an act of hostility by Great Cimaron against Shin Makoku and we will respond accordingly."

The men's raucous laughter had died away, to be replaced by a tense silence and stony glares. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" the lead man growled.

Miriam smirked and brandished Morgif, making certain the invaders got a good look at it. "I am Miriam Whitehall, Maou of Shin Makoku, and I will not be trifled with!" As if on cue, a brilliant yellow aura appeared around her hands. Wolfram and the others from Shin Makoku backed away quickly, while their opponents stood rooted to the spot in shock.

"There's no way she's the Maou! Nobody would be stupid enough to let them bring the Maou here!" one of the men shouted.

"Test me if you dare!" Miriam shouted back. "If my sword doesn't make you believe, perhaps my majutsu will!" With that, she planted Morgif firmly in the cold, hard ground and held both hands before her, palms facing out. There was a bright flash of golden light and, as though hit by invisible battering rams, the seven men flew backwards and landed in the road. "Now go, invaders, before I do worse!" The seven men scrambled to their feet and ran off, shouting as they went. All around them, the sounds of other men abandoning hiding places and retreating filled the air. The last of the sounds were just fading away when Miriam's hands finally stopped glowing and she tottered dangerously on her feet. Wolfram rushed forward and held his arms out to catch her just in time, for he had just made it into position behind her when she fell backwards. Just as he had before, Wolfram caught her. But this time, instead of trying to steady her on her feet, he gently guided her to the ground and held her head and shoulders in his lap.

"Wimp," he muttered, but even Miriam caught the hint of admiration, respect, and -- was that affection? -- that filled his voice.

"I think I over did it," she muttered back. "I bet this didn't happen to Yuuri, did it?"

"You're doing better than he did, actually. The first several times he tried to use majutsu, he passed out for days at a time."

Miriam chuckled. "Really? Heh. Guess this isn't so bad after all."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam slept soundly for the rest of that night and for most of the following day while they traveled back to Blood Pledge Castle. Despite concerns that some of Great Cimaron's forces had managed to sneak across the border the previous night, there were no signs of invaders anywhere nearby. Even so, Gwendal insisted that Yozak and his soldiers accompany the party back to the castle, and Gwendal, Conrad, and Gunter traveled on horseback, surrounding Miriam's carriage at all times. Wolfram chose to stay inside with the Maou, holding her head in his lap and keeping his right arm draped protectively over her, sword clutched in his hand. If Miriam minded his attention, she didn't say anything about it.

They arrived at the Castle just before sunset the following day. Wolfram was helping Miriam out of the carriage when Cheri-sama made her appearance, presenting her with an irate letter from the king of Great Cimaron. "I don't think he appreciated you flinging some of his men into the trees, Heika," she said dryly.

Miriam stretched and yawned. "Well, I didn't exactly appreciate him gathering an invasion force on my border or allowing any of his soldiers to set foot in Shin Makoku without my permission, either, so I guess we're even. Let me see that." She took the letter and examined it carefully, Wolfram leaning over her shoulder to read it as well. Gunter and Conrad exchanged a curious look at Wolfram's behavior, but they didn't have much time to ponder it.

"How dare he?" Wolfram muttered. "How _dare_ he!"

"Wolfram, really, it's not that bad," Miriam said.

"He can insult me all he wants," Wolfram spat, "but he's insulting you and my mother now! That sorry excuse for a king has gone too far this time! DORCAS! Bring me my horse!"

He turned to stalk off, but Miriam planted herself in front of him and glared. Wolfram stopped short and stared down at her. Though taller than Miriam by a good foot, he still felt dwarfed by her fiery gaze. "Nobody is going anywhere now," she said firmly. "And that includes you. I'm happy you want to defend my honor and all, but this isn't the best way, Wolfram." Folding the letter once more, she crossed her arms and tapped it against her shoulder while she thought. "First, I need more sleep. Second, a hot bath. Third, some food. And then I'm going to sit down with Gunter and write a polite but firm response to this king. I'm not going to let him ride roughshod over me, my friends, or my country." And with that, she staggered off to find her bed, a nervous Wolfram following close behind to make sure she didn't pass out and hurt herself.


	13. Wolfram's Heart

Argh, forgot to update yesterday. Ah well, new chapter's up and ready for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 13: Wolfram's Heart**

That night at dinner, Miriam read off her letter, the fruits of many hard of hours of writing, arguing, and re-writing with Gunter's help. In her letter, she told Great Cimaron's king in no uncertain terms that the next group of soldiers to gather near the border would be seen as the first wave of attackers in a war and treated as such. She also pointed out that Shin Makoku had done nothing to deserve Great Cimaron's hostility, and that she would welcome the king or his designated representative to Blood Pledge Castle to discuss the matter. Everyone agreed that it was a fine letter, likely to get the results intended. Wolfram muttered that if it didn't he would be having his own words with the king whether Miriam wanted him to or not. The Maou just shook her head, ran her hands back through her long hair, and declared that she was going to bed early. The others lingered for a bit after she left, finishing their desserts and discussing recent events, then they too went their separate ways. Or at least, that was what most of them did.

"What's going on with Wolfram?" Conrad said softly to his older brother, watching the blond man leave the dinning room.

Gwendal shook his head. "I have no idea. Something to do with the Maou."

"He has suddenly become quite protective of her," Conrad pointed out.

"He has. And it seems to go beyond simply worrying about her as Maou." Gwendal paused and frowned at the door Wolfram had left through just moments before. "Was he ever like this with Yuuri?"

Conrad shrugged. "He seemed more concerned about keeping Yuuri from cheating on him, really, but I assume he would have taken any insults direct at Yuuri as personal affronts."

"We need to speak with our little brother," Gwendal said. "Come."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

They found Wolfram leaning against a portion of the waist-high half-wall that marked the outer edge of one of the Castle's exterior walkways, staring up at the almost-full moon in the clear, star-spangled early winter sky. A light shower of snow was falling. By morning, the grounds of Blood Pledge castle would be covered in a perfect blanket of snow, and Gunter's seasonal worrying about his roses would shift into an even higher gear. But for now, all was peaceful and quite.

"Wolfram," Conrad said. "May we speak with you?"

Wolfram glanced at his brothers. "About what?"

"About the Maou," Gwendal said seriously. "And about your behavior towards her lately."

A pink tinge appeared on Wolfram's cheeks. "She is our Maou. Haven't I been treating her with the respect she deserves?"

The corner of Conrad's mouth twitched. "Once you got used to her, yes. But letting her sleep with her head in your lap goes beyond simple respect, Wolfram. You know that."

The pink tinge became a deeper red, and Wolfram turned his face away from his brothers. "She wasn't comfortable sleeping in the carriage," he murmured. "She didn't get much sleep on the trip from the Castle because the carriage wasn't comfortable for her. She only managed to sleep when I let her have the bench to herself that night, but on the return trip to the Castle, I was more worried about her safety."

"You could have guarded her just as well from the other side of the carriage," Gwendal pointed out, a rare hint of amusement in his voice.

Wolfram finally turned to his brothers, green eyes flashing in annoyance. "Are you suggesting something, Gwendal von Voltaire? Because when it comes to the concealed affairs of the heart, you're hardly one to offer advice."

Gwendal took a surprised step back and Conrad chuckled. "He's right, Gwendal."

"Maybe. I notice you are still single as well," Gwendal pointed out sourly.

Conrad shook his head. "So I am. But this is about Wolfram, not me." Turning his attention back to his younger brother, he said, "Listen, Wolfram. There's nothing wrong with harboring feelings for Miriam. But you need to be careful in this…I remember what happened to you when Yuuri left, and I don't want it to happen again."

Wolfram nodded and went back to admiring the moon. "I understand. I'll be careful."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam stood in the middle of the snow-filled garden, watching Gunter make a few final, frantic checks of his roses following the day's lessons. "I _hate_ winter," she muttered.

"Why?" Wolfram asked, coming up behind her. "Snow can be fun."

Miriam snorted. "It's cold, and I hate the cold. I've never liked winter. Where I come from, we have snow for almost half of the year. It gets boring after a while."

"Hmm. We only have it for two or three months," Wolfram said. "Actually, we consider it s sign of good luck if we have fresh snow on the eve of the Midwinter Festival."

"Er…Midwinter Festival?"

Wolfram nodded. "It's next month. You don't have to do anything special, usually, but this year you might be expected to make a speech since it is your first one. Oh, and there's always the Royal Midwinter Ball, too."

The Maou wilted and kicked at a small snowdrift by her foot. "The ball doesn't sound too bad, but I hate making speeches. Do I have to wear black to the ball?"

Wolfram shook his head. "It's the one time of the year when the Maou can wear whatever colors he or she wants. Why?"

"Because if I have a speech to give and a ball to attend, I need to get to work planning things," Miriam said, turning and heading for the nearest entrance to the Castle.

Wolfram blinked at her. "But you have a month!" he called.

"I know! That's why I have to get to work now! The month will be over before you know it!" Miriam called back before vanishing in to the castle.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"This year's Festival theme is 'Prosperity in a New Era'," Gunter said later that day.

"Prosperity, eh? Easy enough to write speeches about, I suppose. Can I wear a green gown? Same style as the coronation gown, but green, silver, and white instead?" Miriam asked from where she was lounging on her couch by the fire.

Gunter shrugged. "You may of course wear whatever you wish to the Royal Ball. I presume we are going to continue with the lottery system this year?"

Miriam pushed herself up a little and looked over the couch back at Gunter. "Eh? Lottery system?"

"Of course." Clearing his throat, Gunter rounded the couch so he could see Miriam better and continued, "Ever since the days of the third Maou, who instituted the Royal Ball, any Maou lacking a fiancée or spouse has held a lottery to determine who shall be their partner at the Ball. The Lottery hasn't been held in years -- Cheri-sama was married for much of her reign, there was no Maou for the twenty years between her reign and Yuuri's, and Yuuri was engaged to Wolfram during his reign."

Miriam blinked. "Why can't I just choose who I want to go with?"

"Do you have someone in mind?" Gunter asked.

Miriam blushed a little. "Well…maybe…" she sighed. "Tell me how this lottery works."

"Each inhabitant of the Castle gets one entry into the Lottery. People can of course choose not to be included in the Lottery, but no person can be entered more than once. Three days before the Ball, the individual who will accompany the Maou as partner is selected by the Maou's aide -- me, in this case -- who chooses a slip of paper from a basket containing the names of all those who entered the Lottery. The chosen person then either becomes the Maou's partner at the party, refuses to selection, or offers their spot to someone else."

"And what if you pull the name of someone I don't want to go with?" Miriam asked.

"Well…in such a case as that, the Maou and the Maou's partner usually arrive at the ball together and then go their separate ways, without even having an opening dance together or with only a very short opening dance together. If you were to refuse your partner during the name choosing, it would be like cursing that person, and anything negative to happen to that person during the following year would be blamed on you personally."

Miriam blinked, then clamped her mouth (dropped open in shock) shut. She fell back against the arm of the couch and let out a long-suffering moan. "This is way too complicated."

"You could just ask the potential partner in question," Gunter said. "You would then be free of the need to hold the Lottery."

"Yeah, I could, if I could just work up the courage." She sat up and gave her aide a weak smile. "I'm too scared of being rejected to ask him, though."

Gunter settled himself on the edge of the couch and gave her a weak smile in return. "I understand the feeling. For years, ever since I came to the castle to act as the Maou's aide, I have had my eye on someone…but I too cannot gather the courage to say anything, especially where the Royal Ball is concerned."

"Gunter, I have a hard time thinking of you as afraid to do anything."

He laughed. "The heart is a strange thing," he said. "One can master the art of diplomacy and the art of warfare, one can acquire all the knowledge in the world, and still be unprepared to deal with anything related to emotions. I think, if…this person…had any interest in me, I would know by now. My interest is…not the type to keep things hidden."

"Neither are you," Miriam pointed out. "This person you like might be sitting somewhere in this castle right now, thinking the same thing about you. So, Gunter, I have a challenge for you -- keep your name out of the Lottery. I'll go to the Ball with whoever's name you choose for me, but you have to do something about your own feelings by the time midnight arrives on the night of the Ball. Think you can handle this assignment?"

Gunter stood and bowed with all the seriousness he could muster. "I will give it my most sincere effort, Heika!"

"Good. Then let's get on with planning this thing. It won't plan itself."


	14. Fixing the Lottery

New chapter, in which Gunter is devious, Gwendal is confused, and Miriam is right in the middle (even though she doesn't know it). Please leave a review, let me know what you think!

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**Chapter 14: Fixing the Lottery**

Conrad shook his head and smiled. "You actually convinced her to go through with the Lottery for the Ball?"

"Of course," Gunter said. "The rest of the Castle residents are quite excited about the Lottery. It hasn't been held in decades."

"And what happens if she's unhappy with her partner?" Gwendal asked, looking up from his papers. "This is her first Ball. She should be happy with it."

"Why Gwendal, who knew you could be so sentimental?" Gunter exclaimed, delighted. "Anyway, I have just the plan to deal with that. After all, I am the one who selects her partner's name from the basket…nobody sees the name I choose but me. I can say any name I want for her."

Gwendal stared at him in open-mouthed awe. "And who knew _you_ could be so devious? I can't believe you are actually giving thought to rigging the Lottery!"

Conrad cleared his throat, interrupting before Gunter could fling a retort Gwendal's way. "So, do you have someone in mind for her partner?"

"Er…no. That's the problem. I was hoping she might have mentioned something about her potential romantic interests to one of you."

"She is much closer to you than to me, or even to Conrad," Gwendal muttered, rifling through his papers. "Why would she have told us?"

"Agreed. She hasn't mentioned anything to me," Conrad said.

Gunter frowned and paced around Gwendal's office, and the other man's dark-blue eyes tracked his every move. "She told me that there is someone who holds her interest…but who could it be?"

"Did you ask her?" Conrad asked.

"Of course. She refused to tell me."

Gwendal dropped his papers and sighed. "Then you must either hold the Lottery fairly or find some way of discovering, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the person she wishes to partner with at the Ball."

Gunter continued pacing, growing more and more frantic by the moment. Suddenly, he stopped and whirled to face his friends, eyes bright with inspiration. "Lazania! Doria! Sangaria!"

Conrad blinked and Gwendal sighed, dropping his paper and rubbing his temples. "Gunter," Gwendal said, "what do the maids have to do with anything?"

Conrad caught on before Gunter was able to answer. "Those three have knowledge of everything that goes on in this Castle. They know all the gossip. If anyone is going to know Miriam's preferred partner, it is those three," he explained. Gunter gave a vigorous nod of agreement.

"Well then, Gunter, you can go ask them," Gwendal said. "I have paperwork to do." He had barely finished speaking when his office door clicked shut behind Gunter.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Doria! Doria!" Gunter called to the maid, who was walking down the hall ahead of him. She turned and blinked at him in confusion.

"Lord Gunter! What are you doing down here?" she asked.

"I need to speak to you about something," he said, coming to stand beside her.

Doria blinked again. "Well, if I can be of any help…"

"What do you know about Miriam-Heika's romantic interests in the Castle?"

"Oh…well, as far as we know, she doesn't have any," Doria said. "We know she's friendly with you, Lord Gunter."

Gunter nodded. "Do you think there's anyone else?"

"Oh, of course! You see, we're certain she trusts you, but you're her adviser, so she would never have a romantic relationship with you. Lord Gwendal is too cold for her, and Lord Conrad has shown no interest in her at all. Yozak and Dorcas don't seem like good matches for her. Oh, and we're fairly certain she has no interest in other woman."

Gunter's eyes widened. "That only leaves Wolfram."

"Well, we suspect Lord Wolfram is attracted to Miriam-Heika," Doria supplied helpfully.

"Do you, now? When did that begin?"

"Mmm…there were signs of it right before the Maou went to confront the Great Cimaron soldiers, but it's gotten stronger since then."

Gunter gave her a quick bow. "Thank you, Doria, you've been most helpful." And with that, he raced back to his office, leaving a confused maid behind.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"How certain are you that it's Wolfram she has an interest in?" Conrad asked as he helped Gunter prepare the basket of names for the Lottery.

"Only as certain as Doria, and she is not completely certain," Gunter said, folding some name strips and dropping them into the basket. "But it's better than having no certainty at all."

"I hope you're right about this," Conrad said, "or we might hurt two people with this scheme of yours." They worked in silence for a moment, then Conrad said, "What about you, Gunter? Are you going to the Royal Ball with anyone?"

Gunter's cheeks turned pink. "There's only one person I want to ask, and I am too frightened of rejection to risk asking him."

Conrad stopped working and looked up at Gunter, who studiously ignored him. "Him? Really?" He paused. "It's not Wolfram, is it?"

"Of course not. He's too young for me."

"Me?"

Gunter glanced up at him. "Do you think I would tell you if it was?"

"No, but I also don't think you would say something like that if it was me either." Conrad took a few more of the name papers and folded them. "Gwendal, then."

Gunter didn't bother saying anything. He just worked furiously, finally finishing the last of the name papers before pushing the full basket aside. "The Lottery is tonight. Make sure you're there right on time."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the official Lottery for the Royal Ball!" The crowd filling the throne room broke into thunderous applause at Gunter's words. Miriam glanced over at her aide, struggling not to show her nervousness. All eyes were on her tonight, even more than usual, wondering who would be the lucky soul whose name would be pulled from the basket.

The crowd finally quieted down, and two of the Castle's soldiers appeared with the basket. An expectant hush fell over the crowd as the guards set the basket down on a specially-decorated table set between Gunter and Miriam. Gunter gave them a small, respectful nod, and they retreated back to join the rest of the waiting crowd. Gunter and Miriam exchanged a smile, and Gunter held his hand over the basket. "And now, without further adieu, I give you…the Maou's partner for the Royal Midwinter Ball!" With that, Gunter dipped his delicate hand into the basket, fished around for a moment, and emerged with a single slip of paper between two fingers. He dragged the process out as long as he could, the tension in the room growing every second. Slowly, as though afraid something terrible would happen if he moved any more quickly, Gunter raised the folded slip of paper and took his time unfolding it. He studied it intently as though it contained all the secrets in the world. Finally, he raised his sparkling eyes to the crowd and grinned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the person who will accompany the Maou to the Royal Midwinter Ball is…Sir Wolfram von Bielefeld!"

Once more, the crowd erupted into noisy shouts and cheers, whistling and calling out congratulations. Greta, who was standing beside Wolfram, stood in her toes to give her father a hug before letting him separate from the crowd and climb the steps to join Miriam. Gunter crumpled the tiny slip of paper in his hand and stepped aside, a content smile on his face. Wolfram took his place at Miriam's side and gave her a formal bow, extending his hand to her with a graceful and elegant flourish, as though inviting her to dance with him. Miriam curtsied and took his hand, and for several moments the two stood, basking in the adoring cheers of the crowd before them. Finally, having had enough attention, they bowed to the crowd and left the throne room.

As the crowd dispersed, talking about the upcoming Ball and speculating about the relationship between Wolfram and Miriam, Gunter observed the guards taking the Lottery basket off the small stage. He didn't even notice that others were approaching him until Gwendal, Conrad, Yozak, Anissina, and Cheri-sama were surrounding him.

"Let me see that paper," Conrad said, taking the slip from Gunter. The other man just smiled serenely as Conrad examined the paper. "By Shinou's soul, Gunter, I never thought you would actually go through with it!"

"So, you rigged the Lottery," Gwendal said, shaking his head. "Who was it supposed to be?"

Gunter gave the other man a small, wistful smile and said, "You, Gwendal," before fleeing the throne room.

"Well, it's probably a good thing it turned out like that," Yozak said. "Leaves you free to bring someone else to the Ball, doesn't it, Excellency?" But Gwendal didn't reply, as he was too busy pondering Gunter's revelation and reaction.


	15. The Royal Ball

Yeah, I think I was in an ultra-sappy mood when I wrote this (actually, I was in an ultra-sappy mood when I wrote huge portions of this story, but I digress). Hope you enjoy it, though. It was fun to write. Please review!

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**Chapter 15: The Royal Ball**

The three days between the Lottery and the Ball flew by, and the night before the Ball found Miriam in a frenzy. "I can't do this!" she wailed, flinging herself down on her bed and rubbing her hands over her face.

"Nonsense," Cheri-sama replied, sipping a cup of hot tea while relaxing in one of the chairs by the windows in Miriam's private room. "You can do anything you want, of that I am most certain. Besides," she added, setting the teacup down with a soft tap of porcelain on lacquered wood, "you'll be dancing with Wolfram, who is an excellent dancer, and I'm certain Gunter has taught you well."

"I wouldn't know," Miriam said dryly. "I did alright when it was just me and Gunter, but whenever anyone else was there I kept stepping on the poor man's feet. And what's with Gwendal glaring at me every time I so much as look at Gunter? It's not like I'm marrying him or anything. He's my aide, we're _supposed_ to spend a lot of time together."

"The male heart and the male mind are mysteries," Cheri-same said delicately. "Just because I've had three husbands doesn't mean I understand men any better than the next woman."

Miriam sighed. "Do you really think I'll be fine tomorrow night, Cheri-sama? I don't want to look like an idiot in front of the entire castle…"

Cheri-sama stood and came to sit beside Miriam on the edge of her bed. "You will be fine. Everyone will be watching you, but they won't care about mistakes. You are the Maou, and a beautiful girl. People will be in awe of you, my dear."

By the time Cheri-sama left a few minutes later, Miriam herself was in awe. After all, there weren't too many women in the world as lovely as the former Maou, and Miriam had certainly never had such a lovely person (or any person, really) tell her that she was beautiful. Maybe things were going to be alright after all.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Miriam, calm down! You're shaking like a leaf," Anissina scolded the following evening. "Maybe I should try my latest invention on you…"

"This isn't the time for new inventions, Anissina," Cheri-sama said as she appeared from the other side of the dressing screen blocking Miriam from the rest of her room. Rejected underwear, the outfit she had worn for most of the day, a variety of scarves and shawls, and the last remaining pieces of Cheri's and Anissina's outfits for the evening lay scattered about the room as though a tornado had ripped through the place. As Anissina hooked the last closure on the back of Miriam's full-skirted emerald gown, Cheri-sama surveyed their work and gave a satisfied nod. Anissina patted Miriam's shoulder before heading off to add the final touches to her own dress, and Cheri-sama led Miriam to her well-appointed dressing table. There, she dabbed a bit more lipstick onto the Maou's lips, then tucked a few well-placed jewels into the younger woman's elegantly-done hair before settling a sparkling crown, drenched in emeralds and diamonds and white pearls, onto her head. She too went to add the final touches to her much simpler gown while Doria, Lazania, and Sangaria (already dressed for the ball) helped Miriam into her shoes and gloves and arranged her long, sheer, silvery shawl so that it draped elegantly across her back and down her skirt.

"Now, Miriam," Cheri-sama said, giving her own make-up a final look and her hair one last pat, "Anissina and I are heading down to the ballroom. Wolfram will be here for you in a moment, and you'll be making your grand entrance with him. I presume you two will be giving the first dance of the night?"

"Er…that's the plan anyway…" Miriam said. Her voice shook with nervousness.

"Don't worry," Anissina said as she and Cheri-sama prepared to leave. "If Wolfram lets you down, I'll make him help me with my inventions for the rest of the year. I know it doesn't sound like a very long time, but to him it will feel like an eternity." Miriam paled and balked, but didn't get a chance to answer before the two older women left, pulling the door shut behind them.

"I'm doomed," she muttered.

"You're hardly doomed," Doria said reassuringly. "Why don't we wait here with you, Heika? Would that make you feel better?"

Miriam blinked at the trio. "But, if you do that, won't you be late for the ball?"

Doria and Sangaria chuckled while Lazania answered, "We know all the shortcuts in the Castle, Heika! How do you think we get from place to place so quickly?"

"Ah. Well, in that case, some company would be nice while I wait for Wolfram."

Sangaria gave her a sympathetic look. "You really like him, don't you?"

But before Miriam got a chance to answer, there was a quiet knock on the door. Lazania nudged Miriam into position while Doria and Sanagaria went to open the large double doors. They did so in perfect unison, managing a matched set of elegant curtsies at the same time, to reveal a nervous Wolfram standing in the hallway. Miriam drew in a sharp breath and stared at him in awe.

Nothing about his face or hair had changed (Miriam had often wondered if he worked to keep his hair so borderline-unruly or if it just naturally grew that way), but his normal clothes had vanished. Tonight, he wore an outfit of a similar style to what he wore each day, but the blue was a midnight-blue accented with sparkling gold threads that shimmered like stars when he moved. For tonight, he had put his sword aside, and had replaced his usual sword belt with a wider-than-normal belt decorated with a sparkling gold buckle designed to look like leafy vines weaving together in delicate loops and curls. As the doors to Miriam's private room opened, he snapped to attention, then stepped inside, bowed, and held his arm out to Miriam. He didn't even notice when the three maids filed past him and out into the hallway.

"Miri -- I mean, Maou-Heika. It is my great honor to be your partner for the Royal Midwinter Ball this evening. Please allow me to escort you to the Grand Ballroom."

Miriam blinked in surprise at Wolfram's formality, than gathered her thoughts and smiled at him. "Of course. On one condition." Wolfram's head tilted to the side, and Miriam continued, "Please, drop the formality…and just call me Miriam."

He grinned. "Alright…Miriam."

She grinned back, then hooked her hand around his elbow and let him lead her to the ballroom, an unfamiliar part of the Castle for her. As they got closer to the double doors closing off the ballroom, the sounds of music, conversation, and laughter reached Miriam's ears. "How long has everyone else been down here?"

"No more than half an hour," Wolfram reassured her, patting her hand gently. "Don't worry, we're not late."

"Oh good, I hate being late for parties."

Wolfram laughed. "You do realize that being Maou means you can show up whenever you please and still not be late, right?"

Miriam balked. "That would be rude!"

"Well, I suppose it could be, but nobody would argue with you." He stopped just outside the door and nodded to the two guards, one on each side of the massive portals. They snapped a pair of matched, crisp salutes, then each placed a hand on the nearest door handle and waited for Miriam or Wolfram to give the signal. "Are you ready?" he asked softly.

Taking a deep breath, Miriam nodded. "I'm ready."

The guard on the left rapped sharply on the door, then rested his hand on the handle once more. Miriam frowned at his curious action, but then, without warning, the music from within the ballroom ceased, followed by the almost immediate end of all sounds of conversation and laughter. As if on cue, the guards pulled the heavy wooden doors open. On the other side, Gunter was waiting, smiling brilliantly at the couple.

"Ladies and Gentleman, presenting Miriam-Heika, the Maou, and her escort, Sir Wolfram von Bielefeld!" The moment he stopped speaking, the orchestra started a stately rendition of Shin Makoku's national anthem, while the crowd broke into enthusiastic applause. Wolfram and Miriam marched into the room, side by side, nodding repeatedly to the people surrounding them. The crowd shifted, parting to let them pass by on the red carpet that had been laid out just for this purpose earlier in the day. The carpet ended just before the exact center of the ballroom, and when Miriam and Wolfram arrived there they paused for a moment to let the orchestra finish the national anthem. Polite applause greeted the end of the song, then Wolfram and Miriam took their positions for the first dance of the night -- the traditional first waltz Gunter had put so much effort into teaching Miriam.

Later, when telling the story of her first Royal Midwinter Ball, Miriam wouldn't be able to remember how long she danced, or the exact music she danced to, or how long it took for the gathered crowd to break into couples and join in the dancing. She would remember things like Gunter, standing a little ways back in the crowd, holding his hands up so she could see him clapping for her along with the everyone else. She would remember Conrad and Yozak, standing side-by-side and giving her the thumbs-up, a gesture from her home that she had taught them. She would remember Gwendal, for once not glaring at her but rather smiling warmly as she and Wolfram went twirling past.

But most of all, she would remember Wolfram, his eyes sparkling in the light, his steps sure, his leadership in the dance so extraordinary that Miriam was certain she could have followed him even without knowing the dance herself, and his smile bright enough to rival the sun that had shown in the cloudless sky all through that day.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gunter smiled at the dancing couple before turning away to find something to drink. Conrad and Yozak had already found a quiet seat on the edge of the ballroom and were busily working their way through glasses of wine while swapping stories, news, and gossip. Gunter got a small glass of punch from the buffet of sweets and drinks that had been set up near the doors, then started working his way through the crowd to join his friends.

He never made it, for about halfway there he came face to face with Gwendal.

"Your set-up seems to have worked out well," Gwendal said quietly so as not to be overheard.

Gunter beamed. "I am happy about that. It's about time Wolfram moved on from Yuuri, and Miriam-Heika looks quite pleased with things tonight."

"And what about you, Gunter? Are you pleased with things?"

The royal aide let his smile fade a little and looked away from Gwendal. "I…could be happier tonight. It can be difficult to have that which you want so close to you and yet so unattainable."

Gwendal nodded. "I understand. But cheer up, Gunter! I know you well enough to know that someday, your luck will change." He hesitated, then added, "The person who finally catches you will be very lucky indeed." With that, he slipped away into the crowd, leaving Gunter behind to stand and stare after him in open-mouthed confusion.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"I don't know what you were so worried about all night, you're a good dancer," Wolfram said as, much later in the evening, he and Miriam took the longest route they could find back to her private room.

She laughed and gave his arm a squeeze. "It's all because of you, Wolfram. Without you, some of those dances would have had me completely lost."

"You underestimate yourself, and Gunter. He's an excellent dancer."

"Speaking of Gunter, I didn't see him dance at all tonight," Miriam said. "And he seemed upset about something near the end of the ball…what's going on with him?"

Wolfram shrugged. "No idea. He's always been a little moody like that. The maids think it's unrequited love. I think it's just Gunter being Gunter. I've never known him to be any other way."

Miriam pondered Wolfram's words for a moment. "Well," she finally said, "unrequited love can last a lifetime and cause pain for its bearer. If you have it long enough it can just become a part of you that never leaves. So, in a way, you and the maids might all be right."

"Have you known it? Unrequited love, I mean?" Wolfram asked.

"Of course. It's the story of my life, in many ways. I've loved many times, and never had it returned. What about you?"

"Yes," Wolfram whispered back. "I didn't love Yuuri at first, but I came to love him. I don't think he ever saw me as more than a close friend, though."

They finally arrived at the double doors leading into Miriam's room. She stopped and turned to face Wolfram, taking both of his hands in her own. "That's sad," she said. "But you know…it's not good to live in the past. I've been given an amazing thing, the chance to come to an entirely different world and start my life over again. I want to take advantage of that. Start with a clean slate. There's no reason why you can't do that too."

The corner of Wolfram's mouth twitched up in an almost-smile. "I'll happily start over again, as long as you're there. I admit it, when you first arrived, I didn't like you much, Miriam. But now that I know you better, I've come to respect you very much, and to like you as well. I--" his voice caught in his throat, and he looked down at their linked hands, a pale blush rising on his cheeks. "I hope you will give me the honor of courting you."

Miriam let out a small, startled gasp. "Wolfram, are you serious?"

"Of course I am," he declared, determination blazing in his eyes. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't."

"I…I don't know what to say…this sort of thing doesn't happen much where I come from," she said.

Wolfram smiled, let go of one of her hands, and raised the other to kiss the backs of her fingers. "Think on it all you need. I've been patient all these years, I can manage patience for a while longer." He dropped her hand, stepped back, and gave her a dignified bow before turned and heading down the hallway, away from Miriam. She watched him go, rubbing her hand where he had kissed her, mind racing. Did she really need to think about this?

No. She did not.

"Wolfram!" she called out, just as he disappeared around the corner. His head reappeared moments later, green eyes filled with questions as he studied her. Miriam bit her lower lip -- suddenly, actually saying that simple little word didn't seem so easy -- and gave him a slow, deliberate nod. The questions vanished from Wolfram's eyes as he smiled at her and a look of relief appeared on his face.

"I'll see you in the morning, Miriam," he said before disappearing once more.


	16. Matters of the Heart

So, anyone curious about what's up with Gunter and Gwendal (seeing as I listed them in the story summary), things are finally about to start happening in this chapter. Somehow, this one turned out shorter than usual. Hope you like it anyway :) Please review!

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**Chapter 16: Matters of the Heart**

"Wolfram?" Miriam asked.

"Hmm?" Wolfram replied, looking over the top of his book at her.

"Why is Gunter moping around in the garden in this weather?" Miriam nodded out the window, where she could see Gunter wandering aimlessly in the snow-covered garden, his shoulders and the ends of his hair sprinkled with some of the snowflakes drifting down from the leaden sky.

Wolfram stood and went to stand beside her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder while leaning forward a bit to get a better look out the window. "I…have absolutely no idea. Why don't you ask him?"

"Good idea." Miriam set her own book down, stood, opened the nearest window, and leaned out of it a bit. "Gunter!"

"Heika!" He exclaimed, whirling around and tilting his head back to look up at her.

"What are you doing out there? It's freezing! You're going to get sick!"

"Mazoku don't get sick that easily," Wolfram muttered.

Miriam turned just enough to frown at him. "Fine, then, _you_ figure out what's wrong with Gunter's head, because _I_ obviously can't"

Wolfram sighed and shook his head, a small smile playing across his lips. His Miriam could certainly be headstrong when she wanted to be…which was quite often, when he thought about it.

Gunter called to her, "Oh, don't worry about me, Heika. It's not really that cold!" With that, he promptly sneezed. Sniffling and wiping miserably at his nose, he continued, "Do you need me for something?"

"Yes, I do," Miriam replied, ignoring Wolfram's quizzical look. "Can you come up here, please?"

Gunter bowed. "Right away, Heika!" As he left the garden, Miriam closed the window and shivered. Wolfram collected a throw from the back of the couch by the fire, unfolded it, and gently draped it over her shoulders.

"You're the one who's going to catch a cold if you're not careful in this weather," he said. "You need to take better care of yourself."

Miriam chuckled. "Why? I've got you to worry about me." Her smile faded as she sank back into her chair. "Joking aside, Wolf, I'm really worried about Gunter. I mean, he's always been kind of moody, you said so yourself. And I could understand him being particularly emotional at the Ball…it's difficult to be alone at something like that. But it's been almost a month, and he's not getting any better. I need to get to the bottom of this."

"Have you talked to Gwendal about it?"

She frowned. "He seems to be part of the problem, actually. I've done some quiet poking around, you see. Were you aware that Gunter prefers men over woman?"

Wolfram nodded slowly. "I have heard that rumor."

"It's not a rumor, it's the truth. Gisela told me. So we know he's not moping about a woman, at least not in the traditional sense. Gisela also told me that she's certain he's not interested in any of the soldiers or other workers here, which further cuts our pool of potential love interests."

"No kidding," Wolfram snorted. "It pretty much leaves me, Conrad, and Gwendal."

"And Yuuri, when he was here," Miriam pointed out. "You yourself have said he had a strong devotion to Yuuri."

Wolfram waved his hand dismissively. "He's like that with you too, though. Rumor is that he rigged the Lottery for you."

Miriam blinked. "What?"

Wolfram blinked too. "You didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't. Well, then, that definitely takes you out of the running as well. Had he wanted you for himself, I doubt he would have paired us"

"He's too old for me anyway," Wolfram said.

"Right. Which leaves Conrad and Gwendal…and I've never seen Gunter go out of his way to spend much of his free time with Conrad." Miriam nodded sagely, as though she had just explained one of life's greatest mysteries.

Wolfram didn't get a chance to answer, for at that moment, someone knocked softly on the sitting room's door. "Heika?" Gunter's muffled voice asked.

"Come in, Gunter," Miriam called. The door clicked open, and her adviser slipped inside. He bowed to her, shut the door, then came to stand in front of her. "Please, sit," she said, motioning to a free chair in the room's little conversation circle. Gunter sat and blinked at her, looking somewhat dazed.

"What did you need me for, Heika?" he asked.

She sighed. "Gunter, we need to talk. No, it's nothing bad," she added as he tensed, "but I'm worried about you. Wolfram assures me that, as a Mazoku, you are highly unlikely to fall ill from being outside in weather like this. But Gunter, you've been acting so…unhappy…since the Ball. Did something happen?"

For a moment, Gunter just sat there in silence. Then he sniffled a little, wiped at his nose again, and burst into tears.

"Gunter!" Miriam exclaimed. "It's alright! There's nothing to cry about!"

"He-he-Heika! You h-h-have no idea!" Gunter slid out of his chair, onto the floor, and flung himself at Miriam's legs. "It's just…it's just so hard to keep going on like this, ignored and unappreciated!" He buried his face against her knee and sobbed bitterly.

Miriam stroked her aide's hair soothingly, glancing up at Wolfram and mouthing, "Get help!" As Wolfram slipped out of the room, Miriam looked back down at Gunter. "What are you talking about? I appreciate you."

"I know, Heika," he said miserably, raising his head and blinking up at her with tear-filled eyes. "B-but _he_ doesn't!'

"Who?" Miriam asked.

Gunter hesitated. "Oh Heika, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Now what makes you think that? Come one, Gunter. You spend all your time trying to help me. Let me help you, if I can."

"I don't know that there's anything you can do," he said, trying to regain control of himself. "We've been friends since childhood, and yet he hasn't noticed me at all…he even used to think I was looking for a woman! If he can't even figure out something so basic about me, how can I expect him to figure out anything else?"

"You could just tell him, you know," a new voice interjected.

Gunter shot to his feet and whirled to face the new intruder. "I…I…_what?_"

Conrad sighed and closed the door behind him, then followed Wolfram to the arrangement of chairs where Miriam and Gunter were conversing. "Gunter, you _must_ say something to this mysterious man of yours if you expect him to understand your feelings."

"This from the man who was never able to express his feelings for Julia von Wincott," Gunter muttered.

"Watch yourself," Conrad growled. "Julia was engaged at that time, nothing would have come of me saying something to her, or of letting my true feelings show. Unless the man you love is engaged -- and no man in this castle is currently engaged to anyone -- you do not have that concern."

Gunter wilted. "I'm sorry, Conrad. That was unfair of me."

Conrad gave him an encouraging smile. "Why don't you start by telling us who this man is? You should know that none of us will break your confidence."

The lavender-haired man sighed and fell into his seat, running his fingers through his hair. "It's…it's…you wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

Miriam snorted. "Try me."

"It's…oh…Conrad and Wolfram, you're going to kill me…"

"Out with it!" the brothers shouted.

"It's Gwendal!"

Silence. Gunter looked around worriedly. And then --

"See, Wolf, I was right!" Miriam exclaimed. "Aww, Gunter, I'm sure Gwendal would be flattered if you told him!"

"I doubt it, Heika," Gunter said sadly. "He has shown no interest in me for all these years."

"Which could very well be because _you_ have shown no real interest in _him_," Wolfram pointed out.

Conrad nodded. "Gwendal isn't the most observant when it comes to matters of the heart, Gunter."

"Look, you want some help letting him know your feelings?" Miriam asked. Gunter nodded slowly. "Then let me help you. Consider it payback for setting me up with Wolfram at the Ball."

Gunter's head jerked up in surprise. "How did you find out about that?"

Miriam winked. "I have my sources."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Just how do you plan on doing this?" Wolfram asked Miriam after Gunter had left. "I mean, you can't just walk up to Gwendal and declare that Gunter loves him."

Miriam shrugged. "No idea. Certainly nothing direct. Maybe feeding something into the castle rumor mills, surely Gwendal would hear about it like that."

"Does he even pay attention to the rumors?" Conrad asked.

"Sometimes," Wolfram replied. "Usually when Anissina or Mother bring something to his attention.

Miriam snapped her fingers. "That's it! Your mother!"

"Eh?" Conrad and Wolfram said.

Miriam waved her hand at them. "Don't you two worry about a thing. I finally have it all figured out. Leave everything to me." With that, she swept from the room.

"She's gone mad," Conrad said.

"Maybe," Wolfram replied. "Though they say that the difference between madness and genius is a matter of opinion. This scheme of hers could go either way."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Cheri-sama had just settled down for a nice cup of tea in her study when Miriam appeared, black skirt swirling about her feet and making her look far more menacing than she ever really was. "Cheri-sama, can I have a word with you?" she asked, giving the former Maou a small but respectful bow.

"Miriam-Heika! Come, have some tea with me!" the other woman exclaimed. Miriam settled herself into a comfortable chair and waited for the maid to bring her a teacup. When Miriam finally had her cup of hot tea in front of her, Cheri-sama leaned forward a bit. "Now then, what brings you looking for me, Heika?"

"I need to speak to you about your son."

"Oh? Is something not right between you and Wolfram?"

Miriam shook her head. "No, everything is fine -- more than fine -- with us. I'm here about Gwendal, actually. And Gunter."

Cheri-sama blinked. "Gwendal and Gunter? What about them?"

"Well, you see…it's complicated. What I say to you won't leave this room, will it?" Miriam asked.

"Of course not!" the other woman promised. "Come now, what's this about Gwendal and Gunter?"

Miriam took a careful sip of her tea before answering, "Gunter is distraught, to say the least. It seems that he has feelings for Gwendal, but has kept them buried out of fear. Unfortunately, that's rather hard on him and he is finding it difficult to keep himself together lately. Has Gwendal ever said anything to you about Gunter?"

Cheri-sama pondered the question for a moment. "Said anything, no. But, when I think about it…he is rather protective of Gunter, very sensitive when it comes to the things Gunter does and the people around Gunter, and he tolerates things from Gunter he would never tolerate from anyone else."

Miriam leaned forward and whispered, "Do you think it's possible that this could become something more between them?"

"Perhaps, if Gunter would get his act together and say something to Gwendal. I mean, as far as Gwendal is concerned, Gunter has no interest in him."

"I see. Well, that's something interesting to keep in mind." And indeed, though she and Cheri-sama turned their attention to other things at that moment, Miriam did file the information away, to be passed on to the appropriate parties at the appropriate time. Gunter, she thought, would be pleased with her discovery.


	17. What a Little Painting Can Do

Ah, this one was a fun one to write. One of my favorites, really. Hope you like reading it, and don't forget to review!

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**Chapter 17: What A Little Painting Can Do**

Winter soon began to fade into spring, and as the castle grounds began to thaw, Miriam turned what she could of her attention to urging Gunter to make a move with Gwendal. Something, anything, she really didn't care what, as long as it was something that made Gunter's intentions clear. But Gunter found ways to keep himself busy -- Miriam's first anniversary as Maou was coming up, and this called for a huge celebration, complete with foreign dignitaries as guests. There was a lot to prepare. And so, Miriam had another chat with Cheri-sama, who knew more about these sorts of thing and who ensured Miriam that everything would work out in the end. Miriam wasn't too sure what Cheri-sama did, but in the days and weeks immediately following her conversation with the former Maou, she noticed that Gwendal seemed to be making a special effort to be kind to Gunter. Perhaps things really were going to work out between those two.

Spring also put Wolfram in a romantic mood, much to everyone's surprise. Bouquets of fresh flowers, elegant hand-written poems on special scented paper, and even the occasional moonlit serenade all found their way to Miriam's private room (and, in the case of the serenades, to the rooms around hers). Wolfram was almost always at Miriam's side now, and she was just as likely to seek his advice on matters as she was to seek Gunter's advice. Indeed, everyone in the castle now thought of them as a unit, so much so that a sentence including one name but not the other just felt _wrong_ somehow. There was no Wolfram without Miriam, and Miriam just wasn't Miriam without Wolfram. That was simply the way of things in Blood Pledge Castle. By the time Gunter's first roses bloomed, the castle residents had quietly begun placing bets as to when there would be a new Royal wedding taking place.

All of this, of course, was complicated by the fact that Miriam and Wolfram hadn't even kissed or said they loved each other yet, and though Gunter and Conrad had both made it quite clear to Miriam that neither had to happen for a marriage proposal to take place in Shin Makoku, she had in turn made it quite clear that she needed at least one of the two before she would be willing to agree to a marriage. Before long, more bets arose in the castle, this time centered on the timing of the first kiss and the timing of the first "I love you." Wolfram had never felt under so much pressure in his life.

"What difference does it make?" he asked Conrad one day. "She must know how I feel by now!"

"Actions speak louder than words, I agree," Conrad said. "But sometimes the whisper of words is what's really needed."

Wolfram sighed. "I suppose you're right. But if I'm going to say something to her…if I'm going to kiss her…I want it to be special."

"I understand," his older brother said. "I'm always here to talk things through, if you need it."

"Thanks, Conrad," Wolfram said softly. He let his eyes wander around Conrad's office, studying the many trinkets that told the story of Conrad's life and the many official papers and books that told the story of his work, when his eyes fell on something unexpected -- the one decent portrait he had managed to paint of Yuuri. It was a small picture, the perfect size for Conrad's desk, and Wolfram had painted it from memory a few months after Yuuri had left. A small smile played across his lips, traveling into his eyes and filling them with a mischievous sparkle. "I think I'm coming up with the perfect plan right now."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Miriam! Miriam!" Wolfram poked his head into Miriam's office and grinned. The windows had been flung open, letting in a cool breeze and the scent of the springtime flowers. Miriam herself sat quietly at her desk, methodically working her way through the small stack of papers in front of her. The heavy, long-skirted black dresses she had worn all winter had finally been stored away, and for the first time this year she had opted for something much lighter and more airy -- a simple, elegant off-the-shoulder dress with a long, trailing skirt made of many layers of light material that fluttered and rustled in the breeze. Miriam had chosen the colors for the dress herself -- pale purples and greens, her favorite colors. Most people would have been forced to admit that the Maou was rather pretty in such a dress. To Wolfram, she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

She glanced up at him and smiled. "What are you up to, Wolf?"

He crossed the room to her desk, picking up one of the unsigned papers and studying it. "How important are these?"

Miriam shrugged. "Important enough for me to be signing them, not so important that they have to be done today. I probably should do them, though, or I'll have even more work tomorrow. Why?"

"I want you to come with me. There's something I want to do, and I need your help."

Miriam blinked. "Wolf…I need to finish these."

"But you can finish them later, can't you?" he asked.

"Later when? I can't leave them until tomorrow and I'd rather not work into the night."

"Please, Miriam? It won't take that long, I promise! If I don't get to finish in two hours, I'll stop and wait until tomorrow to finish, or the next day, or however long it takes." He leaned over the desk and fixed her with his piercing green eyes.

"Wolfram…what in the world are you on about?" Miriam asked. She was very confused.

"Are you going to make me beg, Miriam?" Wolfram said leaning even closer.

She burst out laughing. "You, beg for something? The day Wolfram von Bielefeld begs for something is the day the Apocalypse has begun."

Wolfram pulled the pen from her hand and tossed it on the desk, the rounded the desk, dropped to one knee beside her chair, and took both of her hands in his own. "Then don't think of it as begging. But even you need a break from working, and it's such a lovely spring day outside…Come with me? Please?"

She sighed and pushed back from her desk. "Alright, fine. But two hours is all you get. I need to finish these papers."

Wolfram leapt to his feet. "Of course! Come on, come on." And with that, he led her out into the garden, to the hidden spot near the small fish pond where Miriam had found him painting months before. Once again, he had set up his easel and paints, still facing the pond. But now, the easel was farther back than it had been before, and a comfortable-looking bench had been set up between the pond and the easel. Wolfram helped Miriam settle onto the bench and arrange herself comfortably, then took his spot behind the easel, collected his paints and brushes, and grinned at her.

"Wolfram, are you seriously going to try to paint my portrait?" Miriam asked dryly.

"Mm-hm," he replied, making a few careful strokes on the canvas. "I know it's been a while since I last tried portrait painting, but I didn't have a good reason to do it before, you know?"

Miriam nodded, then sat silently, doing her best not to fidget. At first, she was rather annoyed with the whole process -- her nose started itching, and she felt like she couldn't move to scratch it. When the wind shook some of the flower petals on the nearby trees free, one petal flew right at her face, and she almost felt guilty about squeezing her eyes shut to avoid having an object fly into her eye. But after a short while, she realized that Wolfram didn't really care if she scratched her nose or tried to keep stray petals out of her eyes, and she let herself relax. She let her dark eyes roam around the garden, only stopping and looking at Wolfram once more when he would murmur her name and ask her to look right at him for a moment. At those times, his eyes always met hers, and she felt a small jolt run through her. They had been courting (and thus technically together) for a few months now, but little of their courtship shared anything with conventional dating relationships on Earth, and Miriam sometimes found herself confused about her relationship with the young Mazoku Lord. But if she had been at all concerned that there was no spark in their relationship, those concerns were laid to rest every time her eyes met Wolfram's while he painted her. It was a good feeling.

She had become completely lost in her thoughts and hadn't bothered paying attention to how long they had been in the garden, when she noticed that Wolfram had stopped painting and was looking around as though trying to find a safe place for a wet canvas. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He blinked at her. "It's been two hours. Don't you need to go back to work?"

Miriam glanced around. Two hours, and yet there was no sign of a Gunter looking to scold her for skipping out on her work, or a Gwendal or Conrad with some important bit of information to report, or of anyone looking for her for anything, really. She smiled and settled back into her pose once more. "Nah. Work can wait. This whole being painted thing is fun."

Wolfram's eyes lit up as though she had just told him the most wonderful news, and within moments he was once again the painter, studying the scene before him and making certain he had every detail absolutely perfect.

It was many hours later when he was finally satisfied with his work, and began putting his paints away. Miriam stirred and stretched. "Mm, I'm starving! Is it almost time for dinner?"

"Yes, I think so," Wolfram said, tightening the caps on some tubes of paint.

Miriam sighed and continued her stretching, then stood and made her way towards Wolfram. "So, when do I get to look at this painting?"

He smiled mischievously and planted himself right in her path, blocking her every attempt to get to the painting. "Tomorrow morning," he finally said. "It should be dry then, and we can design a frame for it."

"Hm, alright then," she said, smiling back at him. They stood there for a moment, Miriam blinking up at him and Wolfram smiling contentedly back at her, before he turned and continued putting his paints away. Miriam let out a small sigh and closed her eyes. Someday, she hoped, this…thing…Wolfram seemed to have against physical affection beyond holding her hands or touching her shoulders would go away, and she might actually get a decent hug out of him. Someday.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gunter wandered through the garden, flitting from rose bush to rose bush like some exotic butterfly, tending the roses so that they would continue to bloom well in the coming summer months. Everything seemed fine, as far as the roses were concerned. And for Gunter himself, things weren't all that bad either.

It had all started a short time after spring had begun, with a simple compliment from Gwendal. Something about how he was doing an excellent job as Miriam's adviser. Gunter had long since forgotten the actual compliment, so excited was he over the simple fact of having gotten a compliment at all. And then, much to his delight, it hadn't stopped there. These days, Gwendal was forever making kind observations and praising Gunter's deeds, finding reasons to spend time with the royal adviser, and generally behaving in a way that made Gunter start to think there might actually be hope for something beyond friendship to grow between them. Oh, but things were going so well for Gunter von Christ!

"Gunter!"

Gunter whirled. "Oh, Gwendal! What are you doing out here?"

Gwendal's brow wrinkled in a small frown. "Have you seen the Maou? She's not in her office and appears to be nowhere in the castle, either."

Gunter shook his head. "Not since this morning. Did you ask Wolfram?"

Gwendal's eyes darkened and his frown deepened. "Wolfram seems to have disappeared as well."

"Really?" Gunter asked, his smile from moments ago vanishing and his eyes filling with concern. He drew in a sharp breath. "Gwendal…you don't think they've done something rash, do you?"

"Miriam hardly seems like the type," Gwendal mused. "But I have not yet checked the garden for them. Will you help me?"

"Of course! Come, we'll start over here."

Gwendal trailed after Gunter for most of the afternoon as they searched every nook and cranny in the garden. Finally, they came to a quiet, secluded spot. Gunter hesitated before heading down the path that disappeared in the surrounding bushes and trees. "Have I ever shown you this part of the garden, Gwendal?"

"To be honest, I've seen many new parts of the garden today. This will be another one," Gwendal replied. He had never been one to spend a lot of time in gardens.

"Hmm. It's one of the best spots in the garden," Gunter said, turning and slowly making his way down the path. "There's a nice little fish pond, and an open gazebo that can even be enjoyed in bad weather, and --"

He stopped rather abruptly, and Gwendal walked right into him. "Gunter--"

"Shh!" Gunter hissed, spinning around and pressing one long, pale finger to Gwendal's lips. "Look," he whispered.

Gwendal leaned a bit to the side to see over Gunter's shoulder and gasped. There, through a gap in the trees and flowering bushes, he could see Miriam posed elegantly on a comfortable bench. In front of her, Wolfram sat at his easel, apparently painting a portrait of the young Maou. Though not a word passed between them, a sense of comfort and contentment surrounded them. Gunter let out a happy little sigh as he observed the scene.

"Isn't that sweet?" he said softly.

"Only if Wolfram's painting skills have improved," Gwendal said dryly. "Have you ever seen any of his portraits of Yuuri?"

"Oh Gwendal, that's hardly the point," Gunter scolded. "Just look at them! So happy just to be in each other's company…Wolfram, so intent on getting his painting right…Miriam, so patient with Wolfram's work…I'm jealous."

Gwendal blinked at Gunter. "You are?"

"Yes, I am. To have someone so devoted to me that they would try to paint my portrait, or to make anything at all for me…" he let out another happy, dreamy little sigh. "Wouldn't you like that too, Gwendal?"

Gwendal made no answer. For several long minutes, they observed the scene before them, listening to the occasional indistinct comments Miriam or Wolfram made, enjoying the gentle and fragrant breeze that blew every so often. Finally, Gwendal tapped Gunter's shoulder. "We should leave them. I feel like I'm intruding."

Gunter stirred and turned to follow Gwendal. "Oh, but Gwendal, didn't you need to see Maou-Heika about something?"

Gwendal shook his head and smiled. "It can wait."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

A few days later, Gunter awoke early, dressed, and had a quick breakfast with Gisela before going to his office to start the day's chores. He passed Gwendal on the way, and they nodded a friendly good morning to each other (Gwendal wasn't much of a morning person, and Gunter knew better than to push it by trying to talk to him). Gunter let his mind wander to the things he had to do that day…sort some papers, tend the roses, finalize the guest list for Miriam's upcoming first anniversary celebration, order material samples for the new gown she was sure to want, order the fresh medical supplies his daughter said they needed, avoid becoming Anissina's guinea pig…

He opened the door to his office and stepped inside, glancing around as he always did. He didn't notice anything suspicious or out-of-place, until his eyes fell on his desk. There, between the piles of papers he had left to review and the books he used for fact-checking, sat a small basket. Gunter crossed the room to his desk and picked the basket up, tilting his face down to study its contents.

The basket was lined with a layer of soft red material. A good-sized sprig of spring flowers had been tucked into the side, and their ends were held in place by a small, knit stuffed animal. A folded note rested beside the mysterious stuffed animal, inside an envelope with Gunter's name written on the outside. He plucked the letter from the basket and set the basket down so he could remove the letter from its envelope and read it.

_Gunter --_

_Our conversation the other day inspired me. Unfortunately, I am no painter, and the thought of knitting you is rather daunting. It is the one thing I would not want to do wrong. Instead, I hope you will accept these flowers, and this kitten. I made it just for you._

_Gwendal_

Gunter smiled and took the knit kitten out of the basket, giving it a quick hug before setting it down on top of the nearest stack of paperwork, where he would be able to see it while working.

Gunter didn't get much work done that day.


	18. Trouble Comes Calling

I wasn't going to post another chapter tonight, but then I remembered that I'm leaving early to travel back to school tomorrow, and figured I might as well just post a new chapter now. Something to hold you over for the next day or two until I'm able to post again. Here we have some drama because, let's face it, even I can't write solid sap in every single chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated.

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**Chapter 18: Trouble Comes Calling**

The Castle's cherry blossoms had been in bloom for a few days when an unexpected visitor arrived at the castle. Miriam was having a peaceful breakfast with Wolfram in her private room when Conrad burst in, followed closely by Gunter, Gwendal, and Yozak. "Heika! We have a problem!"

Miriam looked up in mid-bite, then slowly lowered her fork. "What's wrong?"

"Great Cimaron's king just marched into the capital with a company of soldiers. We had no warning they were coming, and now he is demanding to speak with you," Gwendal said grimly.

"How could he have gotten an entire company of soldiers in to Shin Makoku without us knowing?" Wolfram asked.

Miriam frowned. "They must not have come in as soldiers. And they probably didn't come in together, either." She turned to Gunter. "Has something like this ever happened before?"

He shook his head. "No, at least, not according to our records."

"What do you suggest I do?" Miriam asked.

The others exchanged a look. "There's only one thing left for you to do, Heika," Gunter said. "You must meet with the king."

"But we can't let his soldiers into the castle or onto castle grounds," she said. "Conrad, take Yozak and make sure the Great Cimaron soldiers never pass through the castle gates. Gwendal, bring the king here. I don't have time to prepare anything else…Gunter, Wolfram, stay here with me and help me develop a plan of action."

Gwendal, Conrad, and Yozak left to complete their tasks, and Miriam called the maids to clear away the breakfast things. They had just arrived and begun gathering the mostly-full plates of food when Gwendal returned, grim-faced, leading the king of Great Cimaron, who had a smug smile plastered across his face.

"Well, well, well, the little Maou has finally decided to acknowledge me," he said. "So nice to be appreciated."

Miriam exchanged a quick, suspicious glance with Wolfram. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I have never ignored you, after all."

"No, except for that first time when I requested an audience."

Miriam scowled at him. "I thought we had come to an understanding about that. Apparently not, so understand this -- I do not listen to or honor the requests of people who arrive on my doorstep with a company of soldiers and a condescending attitude. If you wish to meet with me, write me a letter first. This is hardly the way to maintain pleasant relations between our nations. Gwendal, please show the King out."

"Not so fast, little Maou," the king said, brushing Gwendal off. "Write a letter, you say? I have, many times, and all have gone answered. What's a king to do, in such a situation?"

Miriam narrowed her eyes at him. "I never saw any such letters. Gunter, did we ever get any letters from the king of Great Cimaron?"

"No, Heika," Gunter replied. "I would have shown you such letters immediately."

"I'm sorry, but I obviously cannot do anything about letters I never received. Now, would you like to set up an official time for a meeting? Today simply will not work."

The king's face twisted in anger. "You think you have the right to decide these things? I am the King of Great Cimaron! I will not be dismissed by the likes of you!"

"Watch your mouth and your manners!" Wolfram growled, stepping in front of Miriam. "You have no right to arrive in our nation unannounced and make demands of our Maou."

The king stared at Wolfram for a moment, then laughed. "You're the one they call Wolfram, aren't you? The Von Bielefeld heir? I hardly need to listen to you, boy. And I don't need to listen to this Maou of yours either. Respect is lost on someone like her. Tell me, are the rumors true? Do we not even know who her parents are? She's probably just some tramp off the street where she comes from, and then, just because she shows up in some pool of water somewhere in your nation, you declare her to be your leader? You are pathetic, she is pathetic, this whole nation is pathetic, and every person in this room knows that you would not be able to stand up to Great Cimaron if we were to decide to go to war against Shin Makoku." He looked around at the angry people around him and snorted. "I think I am finished here, for today. Perhaps next time I take time out of my busy life to seek you out, you can be polite enough to grant me an audience."

For a moment, all was silent and still in the room. Then the king turned to leave, and Wolfram sprang into action. He reached back and groped along the dinning table for a moment until his fingers found what they sought -- one of the few stray pieces of silverware the maids hadn't been able to remove yet. Shouting as loudly as he dared in such a small room, he hurled the sharp-bladed knife at the retreating king. With a soft thud, it landed with the tip embedded in the floor right in front of the king's feet. He paused, looked down at the knife, then looked back at Wolfram. "Oh? Do you really want to do that, pup? Do you really want to challenge me to a duel?"

Wolfram was breathing hard by now. "Of course. You have insulted me, and my country, and the woman I love. I cannot let you get away with that."

"Hmph," the king said. He bent at the waist and tugged the knife out of the floor, then gave Wolfram a predatory smile. "So. A duel to the death, later this afternoon?"

"Of course," Wolfram said.

"Fine. You realize, of course, that the use of majutsu will be prohibited. I am unable to use majutsu, after all."

Wolfram snorted. "I don't care. I can take you with my bare hands if I need to."

"Good! I could use a good duel, haven't had one in ages!" and with that, the king stalked from the room, tossing the knife in the air and catching it as though it was a toy.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Wolfram, I don't want you to do this," Miriam pleaded for the probably the thousandth time since that morning. It was hours later, almost time for the duel, and Wolfram was busy arranging his sword belt and settling his sword comfortably at his hip.

"There's no choice any longer, he said. "The king accepted the duel. I have to follow through."

"But why did you have to do it to begin with?" Miriam groaned. "And why did it have to be a duel o the death? Why not just a duel until first blood, or something?"

Wolfram pulled his sword from his sheath and gave it a few warm-up swings. "Because this is the only way to get the king to leave us alone and stop insulting you."

"Oh for crying out loud, let him insult me! I don't care, it's better than you dying!"

"Miriam…I'm not going to die. I promise," Wolfram reassured her, replacing his sword in its sheath and turning to her.

"You better not," Miriam muttered, by now struggling not to cry. "You're too important to me."

Wolfram blinked at her, then pulled her into a gentle embrace and held her close. "Listen. That sorry excuse for a king stands no chance against me. I will defeat him, Miriam, and he won't bother us again. Great Cimaron will have no ground for retaliation, because it will be a fair duel. And if I can, if the king comes to his senses and decides to stop being so foolish, I will show him mercy. Now, I must go. Are you coming?"

Miriam nodded, pulling away from Wolfram and wiping furiously at her tear-filled eyes. She took a few moments to regain her composure, then followed him from the room and down to the courtyard, where an area had been designated for the duel. The king and his official witness were already there, along with Wolfram's family, Gunter, and Yozak. A small throne-like seat had been set up for Miriam beside Gunter, and she settled into it. As soon as she did, Wolfram and the king stepped into the ring, and Conrad went to stand between them and read off the official rules.

"The terms of the duel are thus: This is a duel to the death. You may show your opponent mercy at your discretion. Only swords and bare hands are allowed as weapons in this duel. All forms of magic are strictly forbidden. Each of you have designated a witness, and the witnesses will serve as judges of the contest along with Anissina von Khrennikov. Are there any final questions before this duel begins?" Neither Wolfram nor the king said a word, so Conrad nodded. "Then you may begin." With that, he bowed out of the ring.

Conrad had barely gotten out of the way when Wolfram leaped at the king, drawing his sword from its sheath with a speed Miriam would have never thought possible. The king barely had time to block, but he managed to dodge Wolfram's blow and take the brunt of it with his own sword. He kicked out at Wolfram's feet, but the younger man was much more nimble and he simply danced to the side, freeing his sword from its entanglement with the king's and taking another controlled swing at him. The king ducked under the swing and made a stab at Wolfram's side, but Wolfram recovered and managed to deflect the blow -- barely. Rather than puncturing his side, the kind's sword instead scraped past, cutting a long slit in Wolfram's clothes and drawing some blood. Wolfram pressed his free hand to his side for just a moment, wincing, then renewed his attack with all the strength he could muster.

The battle went on like this for quite some time, swords flashing in the bright sunlight and crashing together violently every few seconds, Wolfram and the king grunting and shouting as they attacked and blocked, those in the audience holding their collective breath as they watched events unfold. Wolfram managed to injure the king's free arm, but that didn't slow the other man down much. Wolfram sustained three more long cuts and several bruises before somehow evening the score with a brilliant attack. And then, he found himself locked in a power struggle with the king, their swords braced against each other, faces mere inches apart, both of them applying all their strength in the hopes of getting the other to back down. For a moment, they appeared frozen, rooted to the spot, and then the king shifted. It wasn't a lot -- half an inch to one side, at most -- but it was enough for him to bring his right foot up and kick Wolfram in the stomach, sending him reeling back. The king followed him, letting his sword curve down and to the left, and then brining it up in a quick diagonal sweep to the right. A spatter of blood flew from the tip of the blade, the first indication that something was very wrong. Wolfram stumbled back, dropping his sword and raising both hands to clutch at his chest before falling backwards and landing hard in the dirt.

Before anyone had a chance to react, Miriam flew out of her chair, raced across the open space between it and Wolfram, and flung herself across his body with a great shriek. "Wolfram!"

The king stalked forward and used his foot to give her a rough nudge in the side. "Get up, bitch, and step away from the boy. This is supposed to be a duel to the death, and he isn't dead yet."

"Give him some time and he will be," Miriam said miserably. "Don't you have even a drop of mercy in that black heart of yours?"

"Mercy? In a duel to the death? By all the gods in this world, has that sad aide of yours taught you nothing in all your time here? Mercy has no place in a duel like this!"

"There's no place for rudeness like yours, either," Gwendal said from very close by. The blade of his sword rasped against the sheath as he drew it and pointed the tip at the king's throat. "If you are so eager for blood, then you can continue this duel with me. Wolfram is obviously unable to continue fighting…I will take on his responsibility for him."

"I will allow it," Anissina said, voice and body tense.

"Me too," the king's witness declared. Conrad, acting as Wolfram's witness, just nodded grimly.

"Get Wolfram out of here, and stay with him," Gwendal said to Miriam without taking his eyes off the king. "This is not going to be pretty."

Miriam nodded once, then gave Yozak and Gunter a pleading look. She stood as the two approached and gently lifted Wolfram, carrying him into the castle. Gisela met them just inside the door, followed closely by a terrified-looking Lazania (who had apparently been watching the duel from a window and had run for the doctor when she saw Wolfram fall) and two guards carrying an empty stretcher between them. Gunter and Yozak laid Wolfram in the stretcher, then followed Gisela as she led the group to the infirmary nearby. The whole way, Miriam kept her eyes fixed on Wolfram, who was growing rather pale with each passing minute, and relied on Gunter to keep her from tripping over steps. Once Wolfram was laid out in Gisela's office, the medic tore his shirt off and tossed it aside, then began dabbing at his wound with a clean cloth.

"He's losing a lot of blood," she said grimly. "I'm going to have to sew this wound shut, and quickly. There's no time to lose."

"Will he live?" Miriam asked, voice raspy from struggling not to cry.

Gisela dropped the blood-covered cloth and turned to gather a needle and a length of thread. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. That's all up in the air now, I'm afraid." She looked up at Gunter. "Father, please take the Maou out of here. Yozak, I'm going to need you to stay. An extra pair of hands might come in handy."

"I don't want to leave Wolfram!" Miriam shouted, struggling against Gunter as he tried to lead her to the door.

"You'll only be in the way here, Heika," Gunter said. "And if you're in the way, Gisela won't be able to do her work, and Wolfram will die. Please, come outside with me."

Miriam went limp and let Gunter lead her from the room. Yozak closed the door behind them and bolted it shut so Miriam couldn't get back in.

She wandered aimlessly down the hall, not knowing or caring where her feet took her. She finally paused before a window that looked out over the courtyard and the duel still going on there and pushed the window opening, listening to the clangs and grunts and shouts that told her that both Gwendal and the king were still going strong. And then, as the emotions welled up inside her and became too much, she slid to the ground and wept bitterly.


	19. Hope

Okay! So, finishing up the current bit of drama before moving on...reviews are loved.

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**Chapter 19: Hope**

When the duel was finished, Gwendal retreated into the castle to find the one person he most wanted to see, and the one person he most needed to see. He found them both, in the hallway near an open window, Miriam huddled on the ground and Gunter kneeling beside her. Gunter looked up as Gwendal approached, rose to his feet, and ran the remaining distance between them. He flung his arms around Gwendal's neck and buried his face in Gwendal's shoulder. "Oh, praise to Shinou, you're safe," he breathed.

Gwendal held Gunter tightly to him, breathing in the clean scent of the other man's hair. "Where is Wolfram?" he whispered. "Is he going to live?"

Gunter pulled away and looked up at Gwendal. "Gisela is tending to him, but…we do not yet know if he will live or not. Miriam is very upset about that."

"I see," Gwendal said. He let go of Gunter and started to go to Miriam, but Gunter took his arm and stopped him.

Leaning close enough that his lips almost touched Gwendal's ear, he whispered, "What happened at the duel?"

Gwendal sighed. "I defeated the king and offered him my mercy. I thought Miriam would want that. He would not take it, though, and in the end…Conrad is making arrangements to send the body back to Great Cimaron, along with a diplomatic envoy. It was a perfectly legal duel, but he and I both fear the repercussions from this."

"So he's dead, then?" Miriam's soft, strained voice asked.

Gunter moved aside to give Gwendal a clear view of the young woman huddled beneath the open window. Gwendal went and knelt beside her, pulling her into a gentle hug. "Yes," he said quietly. "He would not accept my mercy. I'm very sorry, Heika."

Miriam sniffled. "You tried. That's all I can ask of you. Mercy is wasted on those who won't accept it when it's offered."

"Heika, when you are able, you should write a letter to the people of Great Cimaron explaining what happened here today," Gunter said. "It could prevent further strain to our country's relations."

Miriam nodded and leaned back, pulling away from Gwendal's arms before struggling to her feet. She leaned against the wall for support, then headed back down the hall towards Gisela's locked infirmary. Gwendal and Gunter followed her. "Gunter," she said.

"Yes?"

"Please do me a favor…this letter must be written and sent soon. I would prefer to send it back with the king's body. Can you help me write the letter?"

"Of course. Let me go get some paper and ink, and we can begin drafting it now." Miriam merely nodded, and Gunter rushed off to his office several floors above the hallway they were currently in. Miriam sagged against the wall once more, eyes staring blankly ahead while she and Gwendal waited for Gunter to return and for Gisela to emerge with news about Wolfram.

Gunter returned with a stack of blank paper and a pen and calmly settled himself on the floor to draft the letter. He didn't bother asking for Miriam's input until he had finished it. Then, he handed it to her to get her input. She declared it to be good, but said she wanted to see something about how Shin Makoku and Great Cimaron would go about repairing their relationship. Gunter dutifully drafted a new paragraph on that topic, let Miriam read it, and when she declared that to be satisfactory as well he turned his attention to re-copying the original letter and the new paragraph to some fresh paper. Miriam signed it and Gunter once again disappeared, this time to take the letter to Miriam's office, where she kept her personal royal seal, so that he could seal the letter. By the time he returned, Conrad, Anissina, Cheri-sama, and Greta had gathered in the hall as well, and all were awaiting news of Wolfram's condition.

"Miriam-Heika wants this letter sent back to Great Cimaron with the king's remains," Gunter said softly to Conrad. The brown-haired man took the letter, nodded, and tucked it into a pocket for safe-keeping until he had a chance to hand the letter off to the diplomatic envoy to Great Cimaron.

"How is Wolfram?" he asked.

Gunter shook his head. "We don't know. Shortly after we brought him here, Gisela told me to take Miriam out and barred the door behind us. He was losing a lot of blood, though, and she said she would have to sew the injury shut." He paused and glanced over at Miriam, who was busy comforting and being comforted by the other women in the group. "I suspect that something else is going on, though," he whispered. "It's been too long for Gisela to just be sewing a single wound."

"She has healing powers, like Julia did, doesn't she?" Conrad asked.

Gunter nodded. "I think she might be trying to heal Wolfram completely. Though, once again, the door has been barred for an awfully long time…"

Conrad clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Don't worry. Gisela is brilliant and strong. She'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about Gisela. I know that makes me sound like a terrible father, but it's true. I know her strength and her limits, almost as well as she knows them. I'm worried about what will happen to Miriam if Wolfram doesn't recover. I don't think she can take it."

They both turned to Miriam this time, watching her hug Greta and rest her head on Anissina's shoulder. Gunter was about to leave Conrad's side and go to Miriam when the door to Gisela's office opened and Yozak appeared, looking a little tired and worse for wear but otherwise completely fine. "Heika, Gisela wants you," he said simply. Miriam's head jerked up, and she suddenly found a new source of energy, for moments later all they could see of her was the edge of her skirt and the ends of her long, loose hair vanishing into Gisela's office. Yozak shut the door, stepped to the side, and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh.

"How is Wolfram?" Conrad asked as the group gathered around the soldier.

"He'll be fine. Gisela is exhausted, though," Yozak said, "Don't worry, she'll be fine too. The thing is, she had to make a choice between saving Wolfram's life and saving his appearance, and she chose to save his life. It was hard work, though. That damn king cut Wolfram deep. Oh, by the way, what happened to the king?"

"I killed him," Gwendal said simply.

"Oh. Just like that?"

Gwendal shook his head. "I offered him mercy. He refused it."

Yozak snorted. "Stupid man. Too bad for him and his people, though."

Greta pushed past her grandmother and tapped Yozak's arm. "Yozak, when can I see Wolfram too?"

Yozak looked down at her and shook her head. "Whenever Gisela lets you," he said. "I think she wants you to wait a little while, though. I'll ask her when Miriam-Heika comes back out, alright?" Greta nodded, and Yozak let his head fall back against the cool stone of the wall once more. Silence descended upon the hallway as everyone turned to waiting once again.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam practically flew from her spot against the wall into the infirmary, but the moment she made it inside, she came to a screeching halt. She heard the quiet thud of the wooden door closing behind her and gulped. Now that she thought about it, Yozak hadn't said anything about _why_ Gisela wanted to see her. The doctor could be reporting good news…or terrible news. Miriam wasn't sure she wanted to face this alone, but it seemed that she had no choice. She took a careful step further into the room and looked around, searching for Gisela. A large paper screen blocked her view of most of the room -- apparently it had been set up after she left to prevent anyone from accidentally seeing what was going on in the room should the door somehow be opened.

"Miriam-Heika, it's alright," Gisela's voice said from somewhere in the room. "You can come in. I'm just rather tired, so I can't come to greet you myself."

Miriam dodged the screen, eyes darting around the room. Once past the screen, Miriam could see Gisela's back. The young woman was slouched beside Wolfram's bed, leaning against it, her head rested on the mattress and her face turned toward the door but her eyes closed. They cracked open just a bit as Miriam approached. "It took a lot of energy to heal him, Heika. I had thought sewing the wound would be enough, and that I could save my strength for preventing a scar, but the injury was far deeper than I had suspected and I wound up focusing all my energy on saving his life instead." She raised her head slowly and studied her handiwork. A terrible gash stretched from Wolfram's left shoulder down to his right hip, and though it looked much better than it had when Miriam had been pushed out of the infirmary so long ago, it was still oozing a bit of blood. In some spots, the blood had begun to form a huge scab. "He's probably going to have a terrible scar," Gisela said.

Miriam stared at the injury in shock, feeling her stomach twisting and threatening to reacquaint her with the remnants of her breakfast. She hated blood, and she hated injuries like this…and now, there was her poor Wolfram, with the most horrible injury she had ever seen in person. And yet, somehow, knowing that it was her Wolfram made her all the more determined to fight her nausea and stay by his side, to touch him and comfort him as much as she could. And so, she rounded the foot of his bed and sat beside him, opposite Gisela, gently taking his hand in her own. "Oh, Wolfram," she whispered.

Gisela laid her head back down, and in moments she was fast asleep. Miriam continued watching over Wolfram, squeezing his hand or smoothing his hair away from his face, wishing that he would open his eyes for just a moment so she could see them again. She needed that, because it would convince her that he would truly be alright.

And then, as though some being somewhere had decided to grant her a wish to sustain her through this dark time, Wolfram's eyes fluttered open. He winced for a second, squeezing his eyes shut against the light in the infirmary, then slowly opened them again. He tilted his head this way and that, obviously struggling to focus, and then his eyes landed on Miriam. He managed a small smile for her. "Miriam."

"Oh, Wolfram," she whispered once more, giving him her own relieved smile. "Oh, Wolfram, you're awake." She leaned forward, careful not to hurt his injury, and gave him a gentle hug.

"How? It was…duel…to the death," he said, his tiredness and weakness making it difficult to talk. "I…should…be dead."

Miriam shook her head, "Did you honestly think I'd like you die? You were in no position to ask for mercy, so I did it for you."

Wolfram's eyes widened a bit. "What…happened…"

"When you fell, Gwendal took your place in the duel. He killed the king. Don't worry, we're taking care of it."

The young man nodded and his eyes fluttered shut. "You…not hurt?"

"No. Nobody else was hurt."

"Good." Wolfram's eyes closed and he fell silent once more. The silence stretched on until Miriam was certain he was asleep. She decided that the others needed to know what was going on, and for that she needed to leave Wolfram's side. She hesitated, then brushed a few strands of unruly hair away from his forehead and gave him a gentle, barely-there kiss. With one last look at his peaceful face and a final tender squeeze of his hand, she stood to go. But she hadn't even managed to turn away from the bed when Wolfram decided to prove that he wasn't asleep yet.

"Miriam?"

"Hmm?" She turned back to him and took his hand in hers once more. "I was just going to tell the others how you're doing, Wolf. What do you need?"

"Nothing."

"Then you should sleep. You'll heal faster if you do."

Eyes still closed, Wolfram gave her a small nod. Satisfied that he was going to rest now, Miriam let go of his hand and once again stood to leave.

"Miriam?"

She had made it to the foot of his bed this time, but she still turned to look back at him once more. "Hmm?"

"…love you, Miriam." And with that, Wolfram finally fell asleep, and Miriam had the odd feeling of knowing that this was both the worst and best day of her life.


	20. Healing Wolfram and Running a Country

So, continuing to move along with the story line...we've got a few more major events to cover, but if I remember my own story correctly we're only a few chapters away from Yuuri's return as something more than our little tool for reviewing 50 years' worth of Shin Makoku's (alternate universe) history. Right then. Enough of my rambling, on with the story!

* * *

**Chapter 20: Healing Wolfram and Running a Country**

Miriam sighed and watched Wolfram sleep. They had finally managed to move him out of Gisela's office and into his own room, and Miriam had insisted on staying by his side since then. It had been three hours since Yozak and Conrad had laid Wolfram in his bed, and though it was getting quite late, Miriam refused to move.

She glanced up at the sound of Wolfram's bedroom door being opened, and looked over to see Gunter blinking at her through the crack in the door. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he pushed the door open further to allow himself and Gwendal to slip inside. Gwendal moved to Miriam's side as Gunter closed the door slowly (so as to not make any noise) before coming to stand with Gwendal.

"What's that?" Miriam whispered, pointing to the jar in Gwendal's hand.

Gwendal twisted the jar's lid until it opened, releasing a sweet scent into the air. "Salve for Wolfram's wound. I use it on some of my injuries to prevent scarring. I don't know if it will work for Wolfram, as his injury is far worse than any I have used this on, but it might still help."

"It's worth trying." Miriam stood and leaned over Wolfram's bed, carefully rolling the blanket back to reveal his injury. Gwendal sat on the edge of the bed and shifted around to get comfortable, then dipped his fingers into the jar and came up with a handful of clear salve. He carefully dabbed it over Wolfram's wound, then motioned for Gunter to come help him. Slowly, carefully, in the hopes of not waking Wolfram, he slid an arm under Wolfram's shoulders and raised his upper body off the bed. Gunter unrolled the bundle of bandages he had been carrying and, in a few deft moves, wrapped Wolfram's torso in the fresh cloth.

"There," Gwendal whispered. "The bandages will keep the salve against the wound as long as possible. I'll have to change them tomorrow morning and again in the evening."

Miriam nodded. "Thank you, Gwendal. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, my opponent was hardly a challenge for me. He was hardly a good opponent for Wolfram either…he just got lucky."

"I see. Well, I'm glad you're alright." Miriam yawned and sighed, settling back into her chair.

"You should go to bed, Heika," Gunter whispered. "You're so tired."

"No, I'm going to stay with Wolfram. I can sleep in the chair."

Gwendal and Gunter exchanged a worried look, but Gwendal shrugged and Gunter wilted a little in defeat. "Alright, Heika. Have a good night." With a quick bow to her, Gunter left, Gwendal following close behind. Miriam leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment, then returned to watching over Wolfram.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam awoke the next morning to find that, sometime in the night, she had wound up kneeling on the floor by Wolfram's bed, with her head rested on the bed beside him. As she woke up a bit more, she felt someone stroking the back of her head slowly, almost hypnotically, as though trying to soothe her back to sleep. It didn't work, and she raised her head to see what was going on.

"I was wondering when you would wake up," Wolfram said softly. His voice was still weak, but not as weak as it had been the night before.

Miriam smiled at him, and he lowered his hand just enough to brush his fingers over her cheek. "I don't even remember falling asleep." She winced as she tried to stand and her muscles protested the movement after being forced to spend so many hours in such an unnatural position. "I think I'll find a better position to sleep in tonight, though."

Wolfram smiled. "How are things, other than that?"

"Fine. Gwendal should be here soon to change your bandages. He brought some anti-scarring medicine last night." She hesitated, knowing that Wolfram wouldn't like to hear this, then added, "I don't know how much you remember from yesterday, but your injury is pretty bad, and Gisela couldn't do anything to prevent scarring. Gwendal doesn't know if the salve will do anything, because your injury is so bad, but he thought it was worth trying."

Wolfram nodded as best he could while lying down. "Does it bother you?"

"Your injury?" Miriam asked. He nodded again. "Right now, yes. I hate seeing blood. But if it became a scar…well, I wouldn't care. You're alive, that's all that matters."

Anything Wolfram would have said was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and much as he had last night, Gwendal appeared. He was alone this time, though -- Gunter, it seemed, had gotten to work early. "You're awake," Gwendal observed.

"Yes," Wolfram replied. "Tired, though."

"Hmm. Well, you had a hard duel yesterday, and sustained a terrible injury. It's natural to be tired." With that, he handed the fresh bandages he carried to Miriam, then got Wolfram to sit up (Miriam had to sit on the bed and support him), removed the old bandages, cleaned the wound, applied a fresh coat of salve, and carefully wrapped the new bandages around Wolfram's body. "There. It looked better this morning. Maybe this medicine really will make a difference."

"I hope so," Wolfram said, letting Miriam help him lay down once more. "I'd rather not have a permanent reminder of that duel."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

As Wolfram's healing progressed, Gunter and the rest of the castle inhabitants turned their attention to a the rapidly-approaching first anniversary of Miriam's reign, and the celebrations required of such a momentous occasion. Conrad set to work drilling the soldiers on the appropriate parade ground formations they would be required to carry out during the planned parades and demonstrations. Gwendal found himself serving as overseer of all tasks related to the upkeep of the castle and improvements to be made before the celebration (an important task, as they had at most three and a half months for such preparations). Gunter became the social coordinator and official decorator, ordering materials and supplies, tending to gardens, and compiling the official guest list. He delegated certain tasks to Cheri-sama and Anissina, which had the unintended but much-appreciated side effect of preventing Anissina from working on her inventions. Anissina, in fact, was the only one unhappy with that situation.

And so, as her first anniversary as Maou approached, Miriam found herself more and more tense and frustrated, likely to snap at everyone over the tiniest of things. The only one who seemed to escape her wrath was Wolfram, and that was only because he wasn't asking her to do more things or make yet another decision. He would simply sit beside her, or lay with his head in her lap, or (when he had the energy to stand behind her for a while) give her a soothing shoulder rub while she signed her latest pile of important papers. Miriam wouldn't let him do it for long, though, as he was still recovering and Gisela was constantly after him to sit down and rest.

"Are you going to be recovered in time for the anniversary celebrations?" she asked one day during a rare moment of peace and rest. Wolfram's head was in her lap, her left hand rested gently on his chest and clasped in his own hands while her right hand stroked and smoothed his soft hair.

"I'll make sure I am," he replied. "We have a few months left."

"Not that many," she said. "I wish there was more Gisela could do for you."

Wolfram stirred. "Technically there is, but ever since Julia died the medics have been hesitant to use more majutsu than necessary. I'm in no danger of dying now, so my body will heal itself in time."

They were silent for a while, Miriam playing with Wolfram's hair and staring down at his handsome face. His eyes were closed, a small smile playing over his lips. Had she not known that he was completely awake, she would have though he was sleeping and dreaming. "Wolfram?"

"Hmm?"

"I hear people talk about Julia a lot…who was she, and how did she die?"

Wolfram opened his eyes and glanced at Miriam, then let go of her hand and sat up. Turning so that he was sitting beside her, he said. "Julia was…quite a woman. Very kind and caring. She had powerful healing majutsu, like Gisela, but even stronger. She and Conrad were good friends, though we all think Conrad's feelings for her went beyond friendship. She might have even shared his feelings, had she not been engaged to another man. Julia died after a terrible battle. She over exerted herself trying to heal everyone and wound up dying herself. That caused a huge rift between her fiancé and the rest of the Ten Aristocrats, and between him and Conrad." He paused as though considering his next words with great care. "Yuuri…Yuuri had Julia's soul."

Miriam blinked. "So, Yuuri was Julia's reincarnation?"

"Yes, in a way. When Julia died, her soul was entrusted to Conrad, who brought it to Earth. I don't know how it works, but somehow the soul got into Yuuri's body."

Miriam pondered that for a while. "So…Shinou chose Yuuri to be Maou, right? Did he also choose Julia's soul to wind up in Yuuri's body?"

"I assume so."

"So whose reincarnation am I, then?"

Wolfram shrugged. "Maybe nobody's. We're pretty sure my mother wasn't a reincarnation of anyone else when she was chosen to be Maou. Then again, we're not even sure that you were chosen by Shinou. If you were, then you are the last one he chose, not Yuuri. If not, you're the first Maou we've ever had that wasn't chosen directly by Shinou. Either way, you're special in the history of Shin Makoku."

Miriam snorted. "Well, I guess there are worse things to be special for." With a sigh, she pushed herself off of the couch and stretched. "Sooooooo much work left, I can't stand this. And tonight Gunter wants me to choose the final design of yet another new gown…and choose the banquet menu…and designate a seating chart for the banquet…I'm never going to get any sleep tonight!"

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The month right before the great anniversary celebration turned out to be the most hectic yet of Miriam's year-long reign. The castle was abuzz with activity -- new clothes being made, supplies arriving each day, responses to invitations (almost always yes) finding their way to Gunter's desk before being passed on to Miriam, soldiers almost constantly drilling (or running from drills to official stations and back)…to Miriam's eyes, it was all chaos, sheer chaos.

To better cope with the insanity around her, Miriam focused on the two most important things: finishing her work, and taking care of Wolfram while he recovered. By now, he was almost completely back to normal. Though he had lost a bit of his skill with a sword (lying around unable to practice for weeks on end will do that to anyone), he was pleased to see that Gwendal's salve had worked and that he had only a very thin, narrow strip of paler-than-normal skin to stretching from one shoulder to the opposite hip to show where his life-threatening injury had been. So though he didn't need much care, he kept up the appearance of needing it because he knew it gave Miriam a much-needed break from her packed schedule of work. She was very grateful for it.

But Wolfram decided that the short breaks she was able to take from her schedule on the pretext of caring for him weren't enough for her. She was still tense and full of stress. It was time for him to do something for her…time to put his foot down.

"Stop giving her more work. Miriam doesn't need another stack of papers to sign. What are these, anyway?" Wolfram asked sourly, grabbing a bunch of papers off the stack Gunter was carrying and attempting to bring into Miriam's office. Wolfram had other ideas, though, and had planted himself right in front of her office door and wasn't letting anyone through.

"Wolfram, you can't look at those! They are very important, private documents --"

"Irrigation channels in the von Wincott territory? New defensive walls around the von Spitzberg castle? An increase in produce taxes in the von Bielefeld territory?" Wolfram lowered the papers and gave Gunter and exasperated stare. "Why does Miriam have to deal with these? Surely my uncle could handle the von Bielefeld concerns, and Stoffel or Mother could sign off on new walls for the von Spitzberg castle. How many papers like this are in that pile, anyway?"

Gunter closed his eyes and gave a small, long-suffering sigh. "Miriam is the Maou, and as such she has both the final say and the final responsibility for everything that happens in her territories."

Wolfram snorted. "Then why do we bother with the old Aristocratic system? Why not just abolish the system, if it serves no purpose? Just think of all the money Shin Makoku would save if we no longer had to support ten families who aren't doing their jobs as administrators! Was this going on under Yuuri too?"

"I'm afraid the only person who can change the system is the Maou," Gunter said icily, "and Miriam-Heika has shown no sign of wanting to change anything in Shin Makoku."

"Have you given her the option?" Wolfram asked just as coldly. "She relies on you for advice, Gunter. So advise her."

Gunter had just opened his mouth to offer up a retort when Miriam opened the door to her office and glared at both of them. "What's going on here?"

Wolfram turned and waved the papers clutched in his hands. "Look at these, Miriam. There's no reason for you to sign them. These are all things the Aristocrats could handle for their own territories."

"Heika, it is extremely important for you to keep watch over what happens in all of Shin Makoku," Gunter said. "It is the only way to keep the Aristocrats honest."

"Did you just criticize my family?" Wolfram growled, bristling.

"Yes, but you'll noticed that I criticized my own as well, or have you forgotten that I am the son of one of the current Aristocrats?" Gunter countered, raising an eyebrow.

Miriam tapped Wolfram's shoulder to get his attention. "Gunter, I have to admit, I've been feeling very overworked lately. And Wolfram has a point. The position of Aristocrat exists for a reason. But what is that reason, if these people aren't taking more direct responsibility for the territories they supposedly administer?" She took the papers from Wolfram and studied them. "The irrigation ditches can pass. The castle walls…I need to know more about how bad they are. And I need to know how high taxes are now in the von Bielefeld territory before making a decision. But I see no reason why we can't combine delegating decisions with me having some oversight of the territories. Gunter!"

"Yes, Heika?"

"All of these papers deal with issues specific to the ten territories, correct?"

Gunter blinked in confusion. "Yes, Heika."

"Then I want this pile sorted by territory. I will then go through and select a few papers at random from each territory's pile, and deal with those papers myself. The rest are to be delegated back to the Aristocrats. Gwendal helped me review Shin Makoku's budget the other day. It's about time the Aristocrats as a group earned their income."

"Of course, Heika," Gunter said. He didn't sound too happy with the arrangement, but he turned to go back to his own office and do Miriam's bidding anyway.

"Oh, and Gunter?" Gunter turned to Miriam and gave her a questioning look. "This is how it will be from now on. Always make sure the papers are sorted according to territory before bringing them to me…and please don't worry. I'm not going to turn every single thing over to the Aristocrats."

Gunter smiled at her. "I understand, Heika."

As Gunter left to do Miriam's bidding, Wolfram turned and grinned at Miriam. "That went well."

Miriam extracted the von Bielefeld paper from the set in her hands and shoved it at Wolfram. "Would have been better if it hadn't started as an argument between you and Gunter outside my office. Were you looking for me for something?"

Wolfram gingerly took the paper from her, and his smile faltered. "Well, I was trying to convince Gunter to give you a lighter workload…You've been so overworked lately…"

Miriam sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I know. Thank you. Being Maou is difficult sometimes."

Wolfram kissed the top of her head and rested his cheek against her hair. "I also wanted to ask you if we could have dinner together tonight, just the two of us. We haven't had a private dinner together with me being healthy in a long time."

Miriam nodded as best she could and smiled. "I would love that, Wolfram. Where and when?"

"Normal dinner time…and I haven't decided yet. I'll come get you, love." He gave her another quick kiss, then said, "I'll let you get back to work, and I'll go deal with this tax issue."


	21. More Affairs of the Heart

Yeah, this confirms it -- I was living in a constant state of sappy moods and hopeless romantic-ness (I know that's not a word, but dammit it _should_ be) when I wrote most of this story. And the sap carries over into the next chapter, too. And then...well, you'll see. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 21: More Affairs of the Heart**

Wolfram appeared at Miriam's office a few minutes before dinner time, grinning broadly and carrying a single, perfect rose. When Miriam opened her door, Wolfram bowed and presented the rose to her with a flourish. Miriam laughed and shook her head. "You're trying too hard," she teased.

"And yet, it seems to be working out quite well, doesn't it?" he teased back. "Come with me. I had the servants set up a table for us in the garden. It's a beautiful evening."

Miriam took Wolfram's offered arm and let him lead her through the castle halls out into the garden, where she soon realized that Wolfram's idea of having a table set up outdoors and her idea of having a table set up outdoors were still quite different. A table just large enough for the two of them had been set up in their favorite spot in the garden -- under the secluded gazebo near the fish pond. The table was covered in a pale green tablecloth that blended nicely with the flowers and trees around them. A gold candelabra holding three perfect, pure-white candles graced the outer edge of the table, between the formal place settings at each seat. Several small boat-like candleholders bearing small white candles had been set afloat in the fish pond, and the gazebo itself was filled with tiny white candles casting a delicate glow over the scene. Two servants stood by silently, watching intently so as to take care of the couple's needs instantly. It proved to be an effective system, for no sooner were Miriam and Wolfram seated than the first course (a crisp summer salad) was placed before them.

They took their time with dinner, so much time that every so often one of the smaller candles would burn out and need to be replaced. Once they had finished dessert, Wolfram proposed a stroll around the garden, which Miriam wondered how they were going to do in the near-darkness that had since descended upon the castle grounds. Wolfram gave her a mischievous smile and simply said, "You'll see," before offering her his arm once more. Miriam nodded, defeated and intrigued, and followed Wolfram through the garden.

She needn't have worried about how they were going to find their way. Wolfram had thought of everything, and had spent most of the day after leaving Miriam's office choosing a path and having it lined with candles -- hundreds of white candles of all different sizes, some following the edge of the path, others clustered on rocks in the gardens themselves, still others floating in the tiny ponds and elegant fountains dotting the castle grounds. They paused by one particularly nice fountain and sat on the bench there to admire the fountain, the candles, and the flowers around them. Miriam let out a contented sigh and leaned against Wolfram, who wrapped his arm about her and held her close.

"How did you convince Gunter to let you put candles all over his garden?" Miriam asked.

Wolfram chuckled. "Gunter is a hopeless romantic. All I had to do was tell him what I wanted and why, and before long he was so excited I had to get Gwendal to distract him."

"Mm, I see. The candles are a nice touch. We should look into something like this for the anniversary party."

Wolfram nodded. "I'll talk to Gunter about it." They fell silent for a while, enjoying each other's company and admiring the garden once more. Then -- "Miriam?"

"Hmm?"

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Miriam raised her head to look Wolfram in the eye. "Only once, right after the duel…that's the only time you've ever said anything about it at all, actually."

Wolfram nodded. "That's what I thought. Well, it's not an acceptable situation." Before Miriam knew what was going on, Wolfram had pulled away from her and knelt down on one knee before her. "Miriam, I admit that I can't remember when I fell in love with you. But I do know that I have loved you for a long time now, and I can't believe I didn't say something about it sooner. I love you more than anything in this world, Miriam. More than anything…" He stopped then, staring into her lovely eyes, searching them for any sign that he had said the wrong thing. And then, finding none, her gave her a small smile, leaned forward, and kissed her tenderly .

Miriam's eyes widened in surprise as Wolfram's lips touched her own. They were warm, and soft, and gentle, everything she had ever imagined…rather like Wolfram himself, in fact. Without thinking, she leaned towards him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, shivering a little when his own arms encircled her waist and shoulders, holding her as close as he could manage and reminding her of the strength that lay beneath the gentleness she knew so well. She clung to him, not wanting to let him go, but finally being forced to pull away to regain her breath. Wolfram nuzzled her cheek before showering tender little kisses over her face and neck.

"I love you, Miriam," he whispered huskily, "and I never want to lose you."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The great day finally arrived, and Miriam awoke to find Doria, Sangaria, Lazania, Cheri-sama, and Gunter lined up beside her bed. It was a glorious, sunny morning despite being so early.

"What in the world are you five doing in here so early?" she muttered.

"Good morning, Heika!" Gunter said cheerfully. "You remember what today is, right?"

Miriam blinked blearily a few times, then suddenly snapped into full wakefulness. "Oh, right. So…what are you five doing in here so early?"

Cheri-sama clapped her hands and beamed. "We're here to help you get ready! Your first anniversary is one of the biggest events in your life!"

"Right. Okay, do what you want, but I need to get up and get my underwear on at least, and the five of you need to be out of here for that! Go on, out! I'll be done in a minute." Miriam shooed her unexpected companions, quickly changed into her underwear for the day, and called the others back to help her with everything else. Cheri-sama and the maids set to work on her make-up, clothes, and hair while Gunter briefed her on the order of events for the day.

"This morning, you have a breakfast with the Ten Aristocrats. Immediately following that, you will be greeting the visiting foreign dignitaries. You will have a light lunch, and then in the afternoon is your parade through the city. Then we have the banquet and the dance. A very busy day, Heika, but you can handle it." Gunter closed his planner and smiled at the screen behind which a half-naked Miriam was dressing.

"Where's Wolfram?" she asked.

"Greeting the Ten Aristocrats with Gwendal. They have family among the Ten, you know."

Miriam poked her head out from behind the screen. "Your father is an Aristocrat as well, isn't he?" Gunter nodded and she smiled warmly at him. "Then you should go see him too. We have things covered here. I'll see you at breakfast, Gunter."

"Thank you, Heika," Gunter breathed. He gave a quick bow, then turned and swept from the room in a flurry of lavender hair and white cape.

Miriam disappeared behind the screen once more. "This is going to be a hell of a day," she muttered.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

All in all, Miriam though in the long minutes between the fruit course and the dessert course (not that she knew why there was one of each -- something to discuss with Gunter later), the parade had been the most fun part of the day. It turned out that every business and district in the city, along with each of the territories controlled by the Ten Aristocrats, most of Shin Makoku's larger towns, and the Castle itself, had created a marvelous float for the parade. They were nothing like the motorized ones she was used to at home. Each of these floats fit on a large cart, some of which were drawn by horses and others of which were drawn by huge teams of people who competed to see which team could pull their cart with the most enthusiasm (Yozak and his Rutenberg warriors had won that competition, a fact which they were currently celebrating with great gusto and much beer). Miriam herself had been paraded through the city in a beautiful open-topped carriage, specially made for the celebration. Though most of the carriage was black, in keeping with black being the Maou's signature color, it bore decorations of many different jewel tones and was drowning in golden accents that glittered in the sun. Wolfram, Conrad, Gunter, and Gwendal had ridden on horses surrounding her carriage, with Wolfram always remaining as close to Miriam as he could manage. Indeed, Miriam had seen many parades in her life, but had never been the center of one. It was quite the rush, being surrounded by all that music and cheering and activity.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Wolfram's voice said in her right ear, intruding on her thoughts.

Miriam glanced over to see him leaning towards her, his chin propped on his left hand and a small grin playing across his lips. She smiled at him and slipped her hand under the table, where the fingers of his free hand tangled with hers for a brief moment before she had to pull her hand away again and pretend nothing had happened. It was bad enough that she had insisted on giving Wolfram one of the places of honor at the table, according to Gunter. Should they be seen engaging in physical contact other than dancing before being engaged…well, that would apparently be a huge scandal. That annoyed Miriam to no end. "I'm just thinking about…things," she said wistfully. "It hardly feels like a year has gone by. There's so much I don't know yet, so much that's still strange to me, but also so much that has become familiar. A year ago the idea of being in a parade where all the floats were drawn by horses or people would have sounded insane to me. And yet, when I saw that today, it seemed to normal."

Wolfram's smile turned tender as the servants placed huge slices of rich chocolate cake before them. "That's because you've gotten used to being here, Miriam. You should be proud of that."

Miriam raised an eyebrow and shook her dessert spoon at Wolfram as though to say "Touché," but any words she might have said were interrupted by the clear sound of silver tapping against crystal ringing through the room. All eyes turned to the spot slightly farther down the table, where Gwendal had risen to his feet and was gently tapping the blunt edge of his butter knife against the side of his empty champagne glass, much as Conrad had done at that first banquet a year ago. As soon as the noise in the great hall vanished into expectant silence, a servant stepped forward to fill his glass. As the foam in the glass began to disappear, Gwendal raised his glass and surveyed his audience with a solemn gaze.

"Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests," he began, his voice filling the room, "we here at Blood Pledge Castle are very pleased to be your hosts on this, the night of the Lady Miriam's first anniversary as our Maou. On such a glorious occasion it is customary for toasts to be offered, and I hope none of you mind if I take it upon myself to make the first toast." Gwendal turned to look up the hall at Miriam, and with a thunderous scraping of wooden chair legs against stone flooring, everyone else in the hall stood and turned to face Miriam as well. Wolfram nudged her elbow surreptitiously, and Miriam too rose to her feet, holding her champagne glass delicately as she waited for Gwendal's words.

Gwendal just looked at her for a moment, as though gathering his thoughts, then raised his glass just an inch more and intoned, "To our Maou, Miriam, who has proven herself many times over to be a wiser woman than I at first gave her credit for being; who has shown herself to have great compassion for those under her care; who has put such an effort into learning the ways of our great nation; and who has never once wavered in her duties as Maou: may you have a long and blessed life, and reign over Shin Makoku for many years of peace and plenty to come."

"Hear hear!" the guests declared, and as though connected by a single mind, they raised their glasses and took a sip of champagne. Miriam barely managed to get her sip down, though, for she was too busy struggling to hold back the tears Gwendal's words had brought to her eyes.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Following the end of the banquet, the guests and hosts retreated to the gardens for some fresh air and some lazy summer strolling. Wolfram had indeed spoken to Gunter about decorations for the evening, and clusters of candles had been artfully arranged throughout the garden. It was one of the first things the guests mentioned when Miriam approached them to give them her personal greeting and thanks for attending the day's festivities. Finally, she had greeted the last guest, and was turning to watch the happy scene before her, when Wolfram appeared at her side. "Miriam, may I speak to you privately?"

"Of course," she said, hooking her hand through his elbow and letting him lead her off to a more secluded section of the garden. They could still hear the guests talking and the orchestra playing closer to the Castle, but here there was nobody to see them. They stopped long enough for Wolfram to pull Miriam into a tender embrace and to give her a passionate kiss. When they finally separated, Miriam tucked her hands into Wolfram's and smiled up at him. "Now, what did you want to speak to me about?"

"Miriam," he began solemnly, "I know this may seem sudden -- we have only known each other for a year and you only gave me permission to court you during the midwinter festival -- but I have never been one to come to any decision lightly. The fact is, Miriam, that over the past several weeks I have been thinking a lot about my life and the way things have gone. I'm sure you know by now how bad things were for me when Yuuri left." He paused just long enough to glance up at her, and she nodded, a concerned look on her face. Wolfram squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and continued on. "It was bad when Yuuri left, I admit. But over the past few weeks, I have come to realize that, no matter how bad that might have been, it would be nothing compared to losing you. I can't bear to lose you, Miriam. And, well, I feel that words are failing me…I know I'm supposed to just say it where you come from, but…" And without warning, he dropped her left hand and, with surprising gentleness for the type of gesture, slapped her across the left cheek.

Miriam blinked a few time, the touched her cheek in confusion. "Wolfram…what was that about?"

He stared at her. "Gunter didn't tell you?"

"Er…no…"

Wolfram's shoulders slumped and he looked about ready to cry, but then he gathered himself, took her free hand in his once more, and while staring right into her eyes, he said, "That is the traditional way that the nobility of Shin Makoku propose marriage. Miriam, I have just asked you to marry me…will you? Will you at least consider it?"

Slowly, as though caught up in a dream, Miriam lowered her hand from her cheek. Her breathing was labored, as though she had just run a long distance, and her eyes were filled with confusion. "Say that again."

"Will…will you marry me?"

She blinked. "Once more. I want to be sure I heard you right."

Wolfram braced himself, and said, "Miriam, I love you. Please, marry me."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Miriam's face exploded in a dazzling smile, more brilliant and beautiful than anything Wolfram had ever seen. "Oh, Wolfram, do I even really need to tell you? Of course I'll marry you!"

And for one long, glorious moment that seemed to last forever, the world they lived in was filled with peace and perfection that nothing could ever take from them.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"I…don't think we were supposed to see that," Gunter hissed at Gwendal.

"Well, it's too late now," Gwendal hissed back. "You know this garden better than anyone, why did you have to bring us to the same spot they went to?"

"You are the one who asked to speak to me alone," Gunter pointed out. "It's not my fault Heika and Wolfram obviously wanted the same thing at the same time you did."

Gwendal grabbed Gunter's hand and dragged him away to another spot. It turned out to be just as secluded from the crowds as the spot Gunter had been heading for, and it was unoccupied. "This will do," he said.

Gunter huffed a bit. "Why in the world are you dragging me around my own garden at night?"

"Well, Gunter, I suppose I could just ask you this in front of all of the foreign dignitaries visiting tonight. It's nothing embarrassing, after all. Let's go back to them." Gwendal turned as though to leave, and Gunter lunged for his arm, grabbing it in a tight hug and glaring at Gwendal.

"You are not going to ask me something private in front of all those guests, I simply will not allow it."

"Will you allow me to become more serious with you then, Gunter?"

The white-clad man blinked in confusion. "What? Gwendal, what in all of Shin Makoku are you talking about?"

Gwendal sighed. "We've been circling around the issue for months now, Gunter. No, actually, for years. And what has come of that? Nothing but frustration and unhappiness, even in recent weeks when we have managed to become more open about things. But now, we have the chance to change that…so Gunter, what do you think? Shall we be more than just friends?"

"Gwendal, do you mean it?" Gunter breathed.

"Of course," the other man replied.

Gunter didn't bother saying a word. His brilliant smile and the tears of joy that filled his eyes were all the answer Gwendal needed.


	22. Memories in a Book

New chapterin which Yuuri has some thoughts, announcements are made, and lives change. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 22: Memories in a Book**

Yuuri hadn't even realized how tense he had been, but upon reading of Gunter and Gwendal's happy news, he felt the tension leave his body and allowed himself to relax. Finally, it looked like things in Shin Makoku were going well for pretty much everybody. It was about time, too.

The former Maou rubbed his tired eyes, opening and closing them a few times and letting them wander around the room for a few moments. Then he stood and stretched (Wolfram's office seat was comfortable, but Yuuri had been sitting in one position for a long while now) before he sat once more, turned the journal's page, and began reading about the wedding plans. It was strange, he though, reading about Wolfram's impending wedding and knowing that, had events turned out just a little differently, those would have been the plans for his own wedding as well. And yet, he was also certain that his wedding to Wolfram wouldn't have elicited such happy and detailed memories from the other man. Their engagement certainly hadn't gotten the same reaction from the rest of Shin Makoku and their neighbors as the announcement of an engagement and impending wedding between Wolfram and Miriam had.

_Greta was the first to find out about the wedding. Of everyone else in this castle, her life will be the most changed by my marriage, and Miriam and I thought it only fair to tell her first. She seems to have mixed feelings about it -- pleased to be getting a mother, but unhappy because this seems to be the final confirmation that Yuuri isn't coming back. Still, I think Greta's sorrow at this reminder that Yuuri has not yet and probably never will return will fade a little as the wedding draws closer._

_We told my mother and Anissina next. Anissina was happy for us but rolled her eyes at the prospect of another party. My mother loves parties, though, and Miriam has officially enlisted her aid in planning the wedding. I just know this is going to turn into a huge international affair, like Miriam's anniversary celebration. Not that I'm complaining, of course._

_Next we went to find my brothers. Conrad was in his office with Yozak, discussing border defenses, when we found them. They both took the news rather well -- Yozak hugged Miriam so enthusiastically that he literally swept her feet off the ground. Conrad isn't as demonstrative as Yozak, but his smile and kind words were more than enough for us, because we know his feelings are genuine._

_As of right now, however, we haven't been able to find Gunter or Gwendal. They both worked hard and seemed a little stressed last night, especially Gunter. Perhaps they've slept in…_

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Well, Gunter and Gwendal can't possibly stay in bed all day," Miriam said huffily, glaring at Gunter's closed bedroom door.

"But we can tell them later," Wolfram countered. "They don't have to know right this minute, do they?"

Miriam shook her head. "That's not the point, though. Like it or not, there's work to be done today, and I need Gunter's help for some of it. Wolfram, really, it's past lunch time! We've eaten two meals, told everyone else about our engagement, and I've actually managed to get some work done as well! And I need Gunter for the rest of it!"

Wolfram sighed, then turned and knocked on the door. "Gunter? Are you awake?" he paused, listening, but there was no answer. He knocked again, harder this time. "Gunter! It's after lunch time, get up! Are you sick or something?" But there was still no answer. Scowling, Wolfram pounded on the door, then rested his hand on the door knob and shouted, "That's it, I'm coming in!"

Without warning, the door swung open to reveal a groggy and disheveled Gunter. Miriam and Wolfram stared at him, mouths agape in shock -- they had never seen Gunter with even a single hair out of place, so seeing him clutching his blanket to his otherwise naked body and with a serious case of bed-head was somewhat traumatic. "What's going on?" he muttered, leaning heavily against the door jamb and blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"We've been looking for you all morning," Miriam said. "There's work to be done, and we have news."

Gunter gave them a slow nod and pushed himself away from the door. "Right…let me get some clothes on…"

Miriam gave a satisfied nod and had turned to go when Wolfram grabbed her arm. "Miriam!" he hissed. "Is that…is that _Gwendal_ in Gunter's bed?"

Miriam turned to look and gasped. "Oh my god!"

Gwendal jerked upright and stared at them, eyes filled with the kind of look that said he wanted them to die slow, painful deaths, starting now. "Wolfram! Stop staring and go away!"

Wolfram just gaped at him. "What…wait…why the hell are you in Gunter's bed?"

"Wolfram, let's _go_," Miriam groaned urgently, tugging on her fiancé's arm.

"That's none of your business, just get out of here!" Gwendal shouted. Wolfram just stood there, though, and Gwendal grabbed the nearest loose object -- his boot, lying near the side of the bed on top of what appeared to be his tunic and Gunter's cape, -- and lobbed it at his youngest brother.

"Gah!" Wolfram turned and ran down the hall, Miriam following close behind. The last thing they heard from Gunter or Gwendal was the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Your papers, Heika," Gunter said, gingerly laying the stack of papers on the table before Miriam.

"Thank you, Gunter," she said, taking the first one, giving it a quick once-over, and signing it without a second thought. She had made it through the top ten papers in her stack when she noticed Gunter, still standing stiffly at her side. "Gunter? Is something wrong?"

"Er, well, no, not really," he muttered. "Though Gwendal has been in a foul mood all day."

Miriam laid her pen down and gave Gunter her full attention. "Look, Gunter, it's not like it's a big deal for you two to be sleeping together, but you have to admit, the last thing we expected to find in your room was Gwendal. When did this happen, anyway?"

Gunter's cheeks turned pink and the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. "Last night. Gwendal…he asked if we could be closer…more than just friends, as we have been all these years. We were going to tell you today, but…" he waved his hand helplessly.

Miriam grinned at him. "Well, it's about time! Aww, Gunter, I'm so happy for you!"

"You are?"

"Of course! What, did you think I'd be upset? Or Wolfram, for that matter?"

"Wolfram looked a bit perturbed this morning," Gunter pointed out delicately.

Miriam coughed. "Yes, well, like I said…We expected Gunter's bed to be filled with Gunter and Gwendal's bed to be filled with Gwendal, because as far as we knew there was no reason for Gwendal to be in Gunter's bed. I'm sure Wolfram will be fine, once he recovers from the initial shock."

"I hope so," Gunter said. Almost instantly, he reverted to his normal self, sighing dreamily and staring out the window as Miriam worked.

"He better," she muttered, resuming her paper-signing once more. "I really don't need an irate brother-in-law."

Gunter blinked. "What?"

"I really don't need an irate brother-in-law. You know, Gwendal. I don't need him angry at me or Wolfram if we're going to be related."

"Heika…" Gunter breathed. "You don't mean…"

Miriam grinned up at him. "Someone asked me something special last night too," she said softly. "And I said yes."

"Oh, Heika!" Gunter exclaimed. "Oh, I love weddings!"

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The official announcement of the engagement of Wolfram von Bielefeld to the Maou Miriam appeared throughout Shin Makoku the following week, and was sent out to their allies and neighbors a few days after that. All was quiet in the castle for a few days -- Cheri-sama declared that this was just the calm before the storm -- and then, without warning, thousands upon thousands of well-wishes descended upon the castle. It seemed that just about every family in Shin Makoku, every foreign dignitary the couple knew, and plenty of foreign dignitaries they didn't know had decided to send a note or card of congratulations and best wishes for a long and joyful marriage. Cheri-sama smiled knowingly at the pile of cards and ordered the maids to clear a small storage room for them, plus a second room for the post-wedding cards that were sure to arrive.

The wedding date was soon set (spring time, at the height of the flowering tree season, giving them ten months to prepare) and the castle once more fell into a frenzy of activity. It all reminded Miriam of the preparations for her first anniversary as Maou, but with even more pressure on her and with the added difficulty of a stressed-out Wolfram to deal with as well. Miriam was in fact very curious as to why Gunter, once again acting as the official planner and organizer of the event, started asking her to plan the basics of the wedding so soon after the engagement was announced. Barely two months had passed when the guest list had been drawn up, the menu selected, the gown (and Wolfram's matching suit) designed, and a theme devised for the decorations.

Seven months before the wedding, the invitations were sent. Six and a half months before the wedding, the invitations began returning -- one and two at a time, and then a veritable flood of mail, all but a few of which were responses of "Yes, we're coming to the wedding." Miriam started to feel dizzy whenever she thought about the sheer number of wedding guests.

At five months before the wedding, she tried to convince Gunter that maybe they needed to uninvite some people and hold a much smaller, more intimate wedding. Gunter told her it couldn't be done, and Miriam spent the rest of the week scheming and plotting ways of getting Gunter to agree to a smaller wedding.

Four months before the wedding saw Wolfram's first breakdown, after the castle tailors kept him in their studio trying on clothes and testing colors and fabrics for most of the day. He spent the evening hiding in Miriam's private sitting room, huddled on the couch, his head rested in her lap, begging her to never let them do that to him again. Miriam tried to get him out of the constant trying-on of clothing, but that was one thing even the Maou was unable to prevent.

Two months and three weeks before the wedding, Wolfram appeared in Miriam's office early one morning and suggested that they elope. The stress of wedding planning was getting to his head, and he knew Miriam didn't like it much either. She agreed, and they were just trying to leave that afternoon when Conrad and Yozak stopped them. Miriam spent the rest of the day crying in her room, and Wolfram spent the rest of the day sulking in the library.

A week and a half before the wedding, Cheri-sama declared a halt to all planning and preparing for a day and instead brought Miriam to a small village a good distance away from the castle, known for its hot springs and spa treatments. Though it wasn't enough to completely relieve the Maou's stress, it did put her in a much better mood for the final run up to the wedding day.

And then, the day arrived. Miriam awoke to a castle drowning in white flowers and ribbons and lit candles, to blooming trees all over the city and the castle grounds, to hundreds of guests in their best finery flooding the castle, to a city packed to bursting with excited citizens of Shin Makoku all out to wish the Maou and her fiancé well.

Miriam and Wolfram were married in the garden, in a special area set up just for the wedding, in the early afternoon, surrounded by the people Miriam had come to know and love as her family. The wedding festivities lasted well into the night and spread throughout the city. The couple disappeared from Blood Pledge Castle for the next two weeks on a much-deserved honeymoon. And upon their return, Wolfram was crowned as the first reigning co-monarch of Shin Makoku since his own father's short-lived marriage to his mother.


	23. Interlude

And now, time for a little change of pace...

* * *

**Interlude: Years of Calm Before the Storm**

Miriam and Wolfram had been married for five years before the next major event to shake things up in Shin Makoku occurred -- the birth of their first child, a boy they named Ahren. Though they wanted more children, it seemed that the teenaged Greta and her new brother Ahren were going to be the only ones. Then, nine years after Ahren's birth, Miriam bore a set of twins, the girls Ilaria and Idonea. They were followed a mere two years later by their brother Elric, and just two more years after that by the couple's last child, Odelia. The priestesses of Shinou's Temple blessed each of the children, but it was Odelia who most captured their interest. Ulrike, the head priestess and former oracle of Shinou himself, declared that Odelia had a promising future and would turn out to be a very powerful woman. Most people interpreted that to mean that the youngest von Bielefeld girl was destined to become Maou after her mother. Miriam and Wolfram took a more wait-and-see approach, and asked all of their relatives and closest friends to do the same. They didn't want the dominant interpretation of Ulrike's words to go to their daughter's head.

At the same time, Gwendal and Gunter settled into a comfortable, affectionate relationship. Nobody was entirely sure when it happened, but Gunter soon moved out of his room and into Gwendal's. They kept their relationship quiet and private, for the most part, but to those who knew them best their deep love for each other was obvious, and not just because they were sharing a room or a bed. It was in the way they looked at and spoke to each other, in the tiny gestures they never directed at anyone else, the way they stood or sat as close together as possible in most situations. Gunter also took delight in his new role as teacher to the royal children, and threw himself into the job of teaching them about Shin Makoku's history and custons, in the use of various weapons, and in all the other things they would need to know as they grew.

Relations between Shin Makoku and their neighbors were peaceful as well -- even Great Cimaron, known for causing trouble in the past, kept the peace. The peace wasn't just external. Within Shin Makoku, relations among mazoku, humans, and half-mazoku (or half-humans, as some preferred to identify themselves) grew more and more harmonious. Gunter had spent a long time discussing Yuuri's actions and policies with Miriam, who, upon becoming Maou, had promised to continue her predecessor's unifying mission. Thus, as time went on, Miriam would actively seek out the opinions of humans and half-mazoku before implementing new policies, and often put many of the major policy changes she wished to implement to popular vote. The system worked out surprisingly well, and though Miriam often made it clear that she reserved the right to make the final decision in all matters, she tended to pay attention to the votes and to implement her latest plans and policies accordingly. Within the first five years of her reign, the people began comparing her to the great Maous of old, and Miriam often came out on top in such comparisons. By the time her tenth anniversary rolled around, she had been declared the Peoples' Maou. Through it all, Miriam was cautious to never become too optimistic. That would have blinded her to impending trouble, and she couldn't risk that.

For forty-two glorious years, peace and prosperity were the order of the day in Shin Makoku. For forty-two years, Shin Makoku grew and became a great center of equality, education, and cultural blossoming. The arts flourished, the population as a whole became highly educated, and the gap between the wealthy and the poor began to shrink (perhaps not as quickly as Miriam would have liked, but she preferred a slowly shrinking wealth gap to a stable or growing one). For most of those forty-two years, Miriam and Wolfram enjoyed a solid, loving marriage, and enjoyed the love and companionship of their relatives and dear friends in Blood Pledge Castle.

And then one day, without warning, it all came crashing down around them. On a particularly lovely spring morning, as Miriam and the others sat down to a cheerful breakfast, Yozak came bursting into the dining hall, trailed by a grim line of soldiers. "Heika, we have a problem," he said, voice filled with worry.


	24. Disease

I wasn't planning to post two chapters today, but the last one was so short I figured it wouldn't hurt. Dark times are ahead for our heroes...

* * *

**Chapter 23: Disease**

"What's wrong?" Miriam asked, becoming instantly still, her hand hovering over her hot tea.

Yozak turned and motioned one of the soldiers -- a fresh, young recruit, from the look of him -- to step forward and speak. The soldier snapped a crisp and somewhat hasty salute, then declared, "Heika, I regret to inform you that the entire village of Riverhead has died."

Miriam blinked at him and let her hand fall into her lap. "Villages don't die, soldier."

"Begging your pardon, Heika, but I just came from Riverhead, and there's not a soul left alive in the village. They were all dead when I got there."

Wolfram's head jerked up in alarm. "Any signs of a struggle?"

The solder shook his head sadly. "None but a struggle to bury the dead. Heika, these people weren't killed by soldiers. There wasn't a mark on them. And I don't think they died of starvation, either -- the fields were full of well-fed animals, and the storage buildings were filled with grains and preserved meat and produce. The houses I checked all had good food supplies too. And Riverhead is right near a well-stocked lake and a large, clean river. Something else got them."

Gwendal leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "No natural disasters either, I take it?"

"Riverhead is very close to the city," Yozak said. "We would have noticed a natural disaster big enough to kill the entire village."

"This looked like it happened slowly too, Excellency," the soldier added. "By which I mean, it didn't look like they all died at once."

"Sounds like a disease got them," Miriam mused.

"It does," Gwendal agreed grimly. "Yozak, organize some search parties and have them go around to all the villages in the area. We need to know if any other villages have been hit. In the meantime," he added, levering himself out of his chair and dropping his napkin on the table, "I want to go see Riverhead for myself. Heika, I will be back soon." With that, Gwendal swept from the room. Yozak and his soldiers saluted Miriam, then they too left to fulfill Gwendal's orders.

"This doesn't look good," Wolfram murmured.

"No," Miriam agreed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

**--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---**

A week later, they had all gathered in Miriam's office to discuss the situation. Miriam had settled herself at the head of the table, Wolfram to her right and their children (all of them by now old enough to participate in these discussions) surrounding them. Greta, Ahren, Elric, and Odelia seemed interested in the proceedings, but the twins were quite obviously only there because they felt like they would get in trouble if they weren't.

"Alight, somebody tell me what we know," Miriam said once everyone was settled.

Yozak cleared his throat and riffled through the papers on the table before him. "We found a few other villages where people were falling ill with an unknown disease, but none anywhere near as bad as the situation got in Riverhead. We're trying to figure out what these villages have in common."

"I suspect they all have a common trading partner," Gunter said. "Maybe Riverhead itself -- that would explain both why these villages are being effected but not others, and where the disease originated."

Miriam tapped her chin and nodded slowly. "Right. We need to look into that. Anything else similar about these village?"

"Not that we know of yet," Gunter said.

"Okay. Continue," she said, not looking at anyone in particular.

Gwendal leaned forward. "I went to Riverhead shortly after Yozak and his men brought this problem to our attention. Things there were just as described to us -- the entire village population had died, and it appears that they were all killed by a disease. There were no signs of battle, no signs of a raid or surprise attack, and no signs of malnutrition or famine in the village or surrounding area."

"Any village records left?"

Gwendal nodded. "I brought what I could back. Anissina and Gisela are going through them now. Gisela is hoping there will be a description of the symptoms, if this is indeed a disease."

Miriam drummed her fingers on the table. "Good. I feel restless, and I feel like we're missing something, but…I suppose we've done all we can for now. Gunter, if you see Gisela today, please let her know that I want to know what she finds in the records from Riverhead as soon as possible."

"Of course, Heika," Gunter said. The meeting broke up immediately after that, and Miriam disappeared to ponder things on her own.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Heika? Are you there?" Gisela's voice asked from the other side of the closed door.

Miriam raised her head from the reports she had been reading. "Yes, Gisela, come in," she called. With a quiet click, the doorknob turned and the door opened, revealing the green-haired military doctor. She stepped into the Maou's office and closed the door behind her before coming to stand by Miriam's desk. There, she set down the armful of papers and books she carried while Miriam blinked at the new pile on her desk with a distinct look of trepidation on her face.

"I am completely certain the people of Riverhead died of a disease, and that many of the ill people in the other villages Yozak's men checked have fallen ill with the same disease," Gisela said. She selected one of her papers and spread it out before Miriam. "I've mapped out the known cases of the disease here. And on this sheet I've written the known symptoms," she added, handing Miriam another sheet of paper.

Miriam read over the symptoms, eyes darting over the words before her. "Mild fever, cough, aches and pains…fever worsens as disease progresses…diarrhea and vomiting leading to dehydration…severe weight loss, total energy loss, not waking up, coughing up blood…initial progress through the stages of illness is rapid but takes weeks for victims to either recover or die…What's the mortality rate, do you know?"

"Very high, but we don't have an exact number yet," Gisela said. "As far as I can tell, the few who have survived so far have been much weaker and more fragile than before they fell ill, even after they have recovered fully."

Miriam nodded and sighed. "So other than the disease, what do all these places you've marked have in common?"

"Just the disease, as far as I can tell. My father tried plotting trade routes earlier, but that didn't help us. Some of these villages share a trade route, but most of the others do not."

"Hmm…what about professions? Shared geographical features? Anything at all?" Miriam asked.

Gisela shrugged. "As far as I can tell, most of the disease sites are far enough apart that they aren't sharing much of anything, not even, say, the same water source. I'll ask my father to look into that, and into possible shared professions, though."

"Good. Excellent work, Gisela. I know we haven't given you much to work with yet," Miriam said.

"I'm happy to be of service," the other woman replied. "I need to rest now, though, and you should too. It's quite late. We'll both be able to do more with this after a good night of rest."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Three more villages have reported cases of the disease," Gwendal said, pointing to the fresh marks he had made on Miriam's wall map. "Additionally, there have been a few reported cases of what may be the mystery disease in some of the poorer parts of the city, here and here."

Miriam rubbed her temples. "Still no idea what's connecting these cases?"

Gunter stepped forward and handed Miriam a thin file. "In a few cases, it appears to be spread by relatives from one village visiting relatives elsewhere. But that doesn't seem to account for even most of the cases reported so far."

Wolfram frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, and studied the map. "There has to be some common link, here," he muttered.

Beside him, Cheri-sama coughed. All eyes turned to her. "Sorry," she said. "My throat feels irritated today. Anyway, what do you think, Heika?"

"I think Wolfram is right. Diseases don't spread like magic. There's something else going on here, something we're missing. Gwendal, there's nothing else you can think of to look into?" Miriam asked.

"I'm sorry, Heika. There's --" Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by a terrible cough of his own, and everyone stared at him in alarm. Gunter rushed to Gwendal's side, fussing over the other man, who gently pushed Gunter's hands away as the coughing fit subsided. "There must be extra dust in the air today. My throat is irritated as well. But no, Heika, I don't believe we've missed anything in our investigation."

Miriam stared at the wall map for a bit, pondering what little information they had in silence. "Well, then, I suppose we can call it a day. Conrad, please organize some scouting missions to investigate the latest reported cases. When you're through with that, we'll have dinner."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Finally, two days later, they had their big break -- the information they needed to find the one thing common to all cases of the mysterious disease. But much to the everyone's dismay, the break hit far closer to home than they had ever expected.

"Heika, there's something wrong with Gwendal," Gunter announced, poking his head into Miriam's office. It appeared that, in his rush to alert Miriam to the new problem in Blood Pledge Castle, he hadn't even bothered to brush his hair that morning, simply throwing on enough clothes to retain his modesty in the castle halls.

Miriam looked up from where she, Yozak, and Conrad had been plotting out new disease cases and possible links on the charts and maps scattered across the conference table in her office. "What do you mean by 'something wrong'?"

"He appears to be ill, Heika. You need to come see." And with that, Gunter's disheveled head vanished into the hallway.

Miriam frowned and threw a quick look at Conrad and Yozak. "Why is this such a big deal? He probably just has a cold or something."

Conrad shook his head. "Mazoku don't get colds. It's quite rare for a Mazoku to fall ill at all, really. Hasn't anyone ever told you that?"

"You're right, Wolfram mentioned it to me many years ago. Alright, you two stay here and keep plotting those cases, I'll be right back." With that, the Maou darted from the room and went chasing after her aide. She caught up with him just outside the door to the room he shared with Gwendal.

"He started coughing a couple of days ago, and it hasn't stopped since. Then last night he was complaining of muscle aches, but we had no idea what could have caused that. So when I woke up this morning I tried to wake Gwendal, as usual, and he told me he was too tired to get up. I tried to convince him that he needed to get up anyway, and when I touched him, it felt like he had a fever."

Miriam listened to Gunter's list of symptoms, growing more and more alarmed by the second. This all sounded so familiar. Where had she heard it before? "How was he when you left him?"

"He said he felt a little nauseous," Gunter replied, twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open. "But that's probably just something he…" the royal aide stopped cold, then darted forward. "Gwendal!"

Miriam stepped into the room just long enough to assess the situation. Gwendal was sprawled on the floor, shivering, a puddle of vomit nearby. Gunter managed to get Gwendal onto his knees, but no sooner had he done that than Gwendal shoved him out of the way and vomited again, then sagged forward into Gunter's waiting arms. Miriam whirled, calling, "I'm going to get Gisela!" and ran out into the hallway. She only made it a few steps, though, before running head-on into Wolfram.

"Miriam!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders to steady her. "You have to come, quickly! There's something wrong with Mother!"

"No time," Miriam barked. "Where's Gisela? Gwendal needs her, now, and also someone to clean the floors. He's vomited twice already."

Wolfram caught her arm as she tried to slip past him and search for the medic. "Gisela's with Mother right now. The same thing happened to her."

Miriam stopped and turned frightened eyes to Wolfram. "She vomited this morning?"

He nodded. "Several times."

"And she was coughing the other day…"

"Right after dinner last night she said she was going to take a hot bath because her entire body ached. She kept saying it was the first sign of old age."

Miriam clamped her hand on Wolfram's arm. "And just a couple days ago, both she and Gwendal started coughing…they said it was something in the air…"

"Gwendal and Mother are both full Mazoku," Wolfram said, voice shaking. "Full Mazoku almost never get sick, and it's never this bad when we do…"

They stood there for several moments, both knowing that something far more terrible than they could guess at that moment had just happened, when the sound of footsteps interrupted their thoughts. Miriam looked up to see her youngest children, Elric and Odelia, headed straight for Gwendal's room, Odelia carrying a small kitten in her arms and grinning broadly. "We can't let them in there," Miriam murmured to her husband. "They might get sick, and Gwendal wouldn't want them to see him like that."

Wolfram nodded, then turned to his children and gave them his best fatherly scowl. Though both long since into adulthood, they knew better than to cross either of their parents when Wolfram or Miriam were upset enough to scowl at their own children. Elric's steps faltered and he put a hand on Odelia's shoulder as she stopped in her tracks. The kitten meowed and placed a paw on her chest. "What's going on?" she asked.

"You can't see Uncle Gwendal or Uncle Gunter right now," Wolfram said. "In fact, I would prefer it if you would go get your siblings and wait for me in my study."

Odelia nodded to the kitten. "But we have a gift for Uncle Gwendal."

"I can see that, and your gift is going to have to wait," Wolfram said firmly.

"But --"

"Odelia, don't argue with your father!" Miriam snapped. "When he tells you to do something, you do it! _Now_!" Elric pursed his lips and Odelia glared at her parents, but both turned and made their way back up the hall. Miriam sighed and turned to Wolfram. "We should put Gwendal and Mother in the same room -- maybe the infirmary -- and try to contain this as much as possible. This castle is filled with people. Who knows how many of us are already infected. I'd like to do what we can to keep it from spreading."

"I'll let Gisela know. Where's Conrad?"

"With Yozak in my office. I'll go let them know what's happening and see if they can help us set move Gwendal and Mother down to Gisela's infirmary," Miriam replied. "And then we get to go to your study and tell the kids what's going on."

She turned to go, but Wolfram stopped her just long enough to give her a tender kiss. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I'm sure it's all going to be fine."


	25. The Mazoku Plague

And thus, the drama begins...and there's only one way to to find out what happens...read on, and please remember to review :)

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**Chapter 24: The Mazoku Plague**

As the days progressed, it quickly became apparent that all was not fine. Gisela, Greta, and Anissina labored around the clock to find the mysterious illness's cause, and to find an effective treatment. But nothing they tried worked. The castle population was more tense that Miriam had ever seen them. Gunter refused to leave Gwendal's side, and Wolfram, Conrad, Miriam, and her children were constantly flitting in and out of the infirmary to visit Gwendal and Cheri-sama. It wasn't too long before Gisela and Miriam determined that the mysterious disease that had destroyed Riverhead and left the populations of several other villages decimated had finally found its way inside Blood Pledge Castle, most likely carried in by some of the soldiers sent to investigate or even by Gwendal himself. But that still didn't answer their two most basic questions about the disease -- what was the common link between all known cases of it, and why were a pair of Mazoku lying ill with it in the castle's infirmary?

While everyone else focused on worrying about their loved ones' recovery, Miriam found herself juggling her concern for her family with her duties as Maou. With Gunter constantly tied up taking care of Gwendal, and with Conrad and Wolfram spending all of their time by their mother's side, almost all state affairs fell squarely on Miriam. She had Yozak's help, but though Yozak was a very intelligent man and enjoyed a challenge, most of the political aspects of running Shin Makoku went right over his head. Even so, Miriam was grateful for his help.

"This disease is hitting us hard, Heika," he mused one day as he followed Miriam from the infirmary up to her office.

"It's getting too much out of hand," she muttered. "We're starting to run low on supplies all through Shin Makoku. Our normal trading partners are getting skittish about visiting our ports and cities to trade. What about our defenses, Yozak? Is the military holding up?"

Yozak shook his head. "My unit is fine, Heika. Not a single person has fallen ill, despite so many of them going to investigate new cases. But some of the other units are losing people right and left."

"The disease has spread that much in the castle?" Miriam exclaimed.

"Well, no. A lot of people are deserting, though. We've only had a few deaths, at least among those who stay. I'm sure some go home and wind up sick anyway."

Miriam stopped and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and pressing her cheek against the cool stone for a moment. "There's no good news in any of this, is there?"

"Not really," Yozak said sadly.

The Maou sighed, then pushed herself away from the wall and began the long trek up the staircase from the infirmary floor to her office. "You lead a special unit, don't you, Yozak?" she asked, trying to change the subject even for a moment.

He nodded. "It used to be Conrad's unit. We were formed back during the last big war, when half-breeds like me and Conrad weren't trusted to join the regular military. We got in eventually, of course, but we kept the unit as it was. The men always say they prefer it that way."

Miriam frowned. Something was floating at the back of her mind, prodding her into paying attention, but refusing to come to the surface even when she tried to force it. "What do you mean by keeping the unit as it was?" she asked.

"Or, we're still all half-breeds in that unit," Yozak replied, as though speaking about the weather. "Plenty of humans and Mazoku have asked to join us, but we always tell them there are plenty of special units for them to join and that they can go to one of them. We're elites, really, because we all work so hard to prove ourselves. Always have. The humans and Mazoku all want to be in elite units too, so they come to us expecting to get in easily. But we won't take them. They wouldn't take us, after all."

The prodding became more insistent, and Miriam grew more frustrated. "That should have changed by now," she said. "When this is over, I can put through an order for greater integration in the military, if you'd like."

Yozak beamed at her. "Thank you, Heika. I'll ask my men about it. I don't mind either way, really, but they probably have thoughts on it." He stretched and yawned. "I like my unit. We don't get any trouble from the humans or Mazoku, in my unit."

And suddenly, Miriam knew what was bothering her. "I suppose you don't get diseases from Mazoku in your unit, either."

"Nah, but that's mostly because Mazoku don't get sick."

"They do now," Miriam said grimly. "Yozak, do you know much about Riverhead?"

"Not a lot. I had some friends from there when I was a kid."

"Were they humans or half-mazoku?"

Yozak shook his head. "Nah, they were Mazoku, just like everyone else in Riverhead." He stopped and blinked. "Just like everyone else in Riverhead…and everyone in Riverhead is dead."

Miriam nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I think I just found the connection between all the cases. Let's take another look at my charts."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam and Yozak worked all through the night, studying the maps and charts once more. Yozak made frequent trips down to the barracks to ask the soldiers for what they knew about the towns where the mysterious disease had cropped up, and he returned from his last trip shortly after midnight, grim-faced and tense. "Mazoku villages," he said. "Most of these places were almost completely unknown to my men and to the people in all-human units, but as soon as I asked the Mazoku units, I got information on every single village. These over here," he indicated a swathe of land east of the city, on the edge of the von Christ territory, "are all Mazoku villages. These other ones," he indicated a narrow band of villages on the coast, "are mixed, but the larger ones tend to have separate human and Mazoku districts. In those places, it's only the Mazoku districts being effected."

"Looks like humans and half-Mazoku can't get sick," Miriam said, staring down at the maps and lists.

"Not from this plague, anyway," Yozak agreed.

"We have to tell the others. Come on, I'm going to the infirmary."

Yozak trailed behind Miriam the whole way, watching the exhausted Maou rush down the long flights of stairs and scramble down the dimly-lit castle halls before finally arriving at the place that was currently the busiest in the castle. They slipped silently into the infirmary, not knowing who was awake and who was asleep. As it turned out, only Gwendal and Cheri-sama were sleeping. Gunter was sitting on the edge of Gwendal's bed, gently dabbing the ill man's forehead with a cool washcloth every so often. Conrad sat on the foot of Gwendal's bed, his hand resting on Gwendal's lower leg but his eyes fixed on Cheri-sama. Wolfram was pacing around beside the open window, every so often looking at his sick relatives out of the corners of his green eyes. His children were scattered about the room, as he and Miriam had long since given up on trying to keep them away from the disease and it carriers. Ilaria and Idonea had curled up together under a blanket in the corner and where whispering back and forth, while Ahren and Elric had taken up posts at the foot of their grandmother's bed. Odelia was hiding in the shadows, where she could both stay out of the way and observe anything that happened in the room, and at the moment was cradling a sleeping kitten in her arms. Her eyes moved from side to side as she watched her father pace. Greta, Gisela, and Anissina were moving about the room in silence, tending their patients and comforting the others as best they could. All eyes turned to the door as Miriam and Yozak entered.

"Miriam, you should be in bed," Wolfram said softly, ending his pacing and going to hug his wife.

"Sleep can wait," she replied, though she did allow herself a moment to close her eyes and rest her head on Wolfram's strong shoulder. "Yozak and I think we've figured something out, though."

Everyone perked up at that. "What is it?" Gisela asked.

"Remember how we couldn't find a common link between any of the disease cases?" Miriam asked. Gisela nodded. "Well, Yozak and I were talking about his unit, and he mentioned how none of his people had gotten sick. Now, his people have spent a lot of time investigating these cases. You'd think one of them would have gotten sick by now, but they haven't. So we looked at all the cases of the disease we know about…and found that only Mazoku have been falling ill and dying."

Silence descended over the room. Gunter was the first to break it. "You mean…this disease only effects Mazoku?" he breathed, looking first at Miriam and then down at Gwendal.

"I think so. It's the only thing all of the victims so far have in common."

"Riverhead was a village full of nothing but Mazoku," Yozak pointed out. "Look what happened there."

"Well, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually," Gisela said. "Though I didn't expect it to be something so…virulent."

Wolfram nodded sadly. "We mazoku have been lucky so far," he said softly.

"I don't suppose you've stumbled across a cure?" Greta asked.

Miriam pushed away from Wolfram far enough to look at her oldest daughter and shook her head. "Sadly, we still don't know anything about that. With all the cases we've had, it looks like the people either die or recover on their own."

"Mortality rate?" Anissina asked as she bent to check Cheri-sama's temperature.

"High. But still no specific information," Miriam said. She stood there with the others for a moment, then wilted a bit. "I need to get a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow, I'm going to write to our allies and tell them what we know…and maybe ask for some help as well. We need a plan for containing and dealing with this, too. I'll see you all in the morning."


	26. Death Comes Calling

And the darkness continues to grow... Also some disease-based nastiness in the form of people coughing up blood, so if that squicks you out to much you might want to just skim the first part of the chapter.

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**Chapter 25: Death Comes Calling**

Weeks passed in Shin Makoku, and each day brought news worse than the last. As spring faded into summer, reports came in that five different villages had closed themselves off -- three had already been struck by the disease, while the other two had so far managed to remain healthy and wanted to stay that way. The first few days of summer saw a coordinated effort on the part of Shin Makoku's human and half-mazoku populations to keep supplies and news moving throughout the country. Miriam had made an official announcement declaring that the disease appeared to target only full mazoku, and had begged the non-mazoku citizens to do everything in their power help Shin Makoku at this time of terror and need. For now, at least, her plea seemed to be working.

Shin Makoku's allies were somewhat comforted by the news that humans and half-mazoku so far had been immune. Though international trade remained lower than before the disease struck, it did pick up a little after Miriam's letters went through, and Miriam was no longer as frightened of what would happen if some other disaster were to strike. This was very much on Miriam's mind as reports started coming in that many farms were failing because there was nobody to work them. There weren't going to be as many crops this year. As much as Miriam didn't like the idea of having to import things the people of Shin Makoku could normally make for themselves, she knew it was better than having a famine in the country.

And then, one day, things took a turn for the worse. Miriam and Wolfram had finally gone to bed for the night (together, in fact, for the first time since Cheri-sama and Gwendal had fallen ill) when, without warning, Anissina burst into their room.

"Gwendal and Cheri-sama are coughing up blood!" she shouted as Miriam and Wolfram struggled back into wakefulness.

"What?" Miriam asked, rubbing her eyes and swinging her legs out of bed.

"They've started coughing up blood," Anissina said. "Cheri-sama is in worse shape then Gwendal, though."

Miriam grabbed her dressing gown from where she had draped it over the back of a chair in her room. "Let's go," she said, following Anissina out, Wolfram right on her heels.

The infirmary was in a state of chaos when they arrived. Gunter was holding Gwendal upright while he coughed, spitting blood into a basin Greta held before him. In the other bed, Conrad and Gisela were doing the same for Cheri-sama. Wolfram and Miriam just stood helplessly in the door for a while, watching the chaos before them and having no idea what to do. Gwendal stopped coughing first, and Miriam sprang forward to help Gunter lay him back down. "How are you feeling, Gwendal?" she asked him softly.

"Like I'm dying," he muttered. "And I am dying, you know that."

"Don't say such things," Gunter hissed. "I'm not going to let you die."

Gwendal winced at the sound of a particularly bad cough from his mother, then reached up and brushed his fingertips over Gunter's cheek. "You might not have a choice."

"We're not going to stop looking for a way to save you," Miriam said. "You just hang on a little longer, Gwendal."

Gwendal nodded, eyes fluttering shut. Miriam turned away from Gwendal's bed and towards Cheri-sama, who stopped coughing a moment later and began gasping for air. Her breath wheezed terribly and her chest heaved, and it was obvious she was struggling. Wolfram appeared at her side, helping Conrad lay her back on the bed. They hadn't gotten her more than half-way down, though, when her entire body jerked violently and she began vomiting blood. Wolfram and Conrad shouted at Miriam to stay back while Greta, Gisela, and Anissina surrounded the former Maou's bed. Gunter tugged Miriam's dressing gown until he convinced her to come and sit on his side of Gwendal's bed. She did, huddling by her aide's side and crying silently as she watched the others struggle with Cheri-sama. They finally got her coughing and vomiting to stop, and gently laid her on the bed. Conrad collapsed into his seat and sagged against the wall, while Wolfram just sank to the floor, shaking. Both ignored the blood covering their hands, arms, and torsos and spattering their faces.

Gisela didn't let them stay like that for long. "Both of you, get cleaned up and change your clothes before you get yourselves or someone else sick too." The brothers protested, but Gisela would have none of it. They finally left in search of a quick bath and clean sets of clothes. Gisela turned her attention to Miriam, still shaking beside Gunter. "You shouldn't come down here anymore, Heika."

Miriam balked. "But this is my family! My mother-in-law and my brother-in-law!"

"I know," Gisela said sadly, "but you are the Maou. This country can survive without them…it can't survive without you. Please, Heika. Say your final good-byes, and then go somewhere safe."

Slowly, as though carrying a great weight on her shoulders, Miriam stood. "Is there such a place anymore, Gisela?" she asked. Gisela had no answer, so Miriam instead turned and said good-bye to Gwendal and Cheri-sama. Just before she left, she turned to Gunter. "That's not my final good-bye, you know. I'm sure they'll make it out all right in the end." Gunter nodded to her, and she left.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

As summer dragged on, Miriam started wondering why nobody had noticed anything happening in Riverhead before the entire village had managed to die. Gwendal and Cheri-sama lived far longer than Gisela had expected they would, and were still struggling against the strange disease as the first month of summer drew to a close. They both lost incredible amounts of weight, to the point that, the one time Miriam snuck into the infirmary when Gisela wasn't around, she went hysterical in the belief that Gwendal and Cheri-sama had already died. But they were alive, and Yozak (who came bursting into the infirmary when he heard her screams) was able to convince her of that and drag her out before Gisela could return. He brought Miriam back up to her office and got her a cup of tea.

"Yozak?" she said softly as she clutched her cup of tea in both hands.

"Hmm?"

"They didn't wake up when I screamed, did they?"

Yozak shook his head, letting some of his orange hair fall into his eyes. "No, Heika. But it's better for them this way. They're not in pain, and when they die it'll be peaceful."

Miriam nodded, but the gesture was deceptively calm. Inside, she felt all the anger and stress of the past few weeks beginning to boil. Her face twisted into a scowl, and without warning, she leapt to her feet and hurled her tea cup at the wall with a great cry. The cup shattered, spilling sharp shards of porcelain and several ounces of hot milky tea all over the floor.

"Heika!"

"They are_ not_ going to die, Yozak, do you understand that? I am not going to _let_ them die. There's no good reason for them to die!" She fell to her knees and sagged forward, until she was huddled, sobbing, on the floor. "I thought nothing like this would happen if I agreed to become Maou all those years ago," she moaned between sobs. "What have I done wrong, Yozak?"

The soldier stared down at her, helpless. "Heika…you didn't cause this."

"Then what did?" she wailed, raising her eyes to him once more. "What did?"

"What is going on in here?" Wolfram's anger-filled voice boomed from the doorway.

Yozak turned and threw him a tired salute. "Nothing, Excellency. Miriam-Heika is upset, that's all."

Wolfram snorted, then padded into the room and knelt beside his wife, gently rubbing her back. She shifted enough to bury her face in his lap instead of the floor as he stoked her hair tenderly. "How did this happen, Wolf?" she moaned, her voice muffled.

"I don't know," he murmured back, "but it's not your fault. I just came back from Shinou's Temple. Even Ulrike says this has nothing to do with you. Come on, now. You need rest." He helped her to her feet and guided her from the office, giving Yozak an apologetic look as they passed. Yozak just nodded to let Wolfram know everything was alright, then set to work cleaning up the broken teacup.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

One week later, Gunter insisted on moving Gwendal back to his own room, declaring that being down in the infirmary wasn't helping him any. Gisela and Greta argued otherwise, pointing out that having both patients in the infirmary meant that they could take better care of them, as Gisela and the others didn't have to be running back and forth between two separate rooms. And besides, Anissina added, it probably wouldn't be healthy to move Gwendal. He was on the verge of death as it was. Gunter continued to complain about that, but put most of his energy into taking care of Gwendal.

And then, just as the sun was setting one day late in the week, Gisela stepped out of the infirmary, a dark look of defeat in her green eyes. Gunter, Conrad, and Wolfram were just coming back from dinner, followed closely by Yozak and Miriam (who was busy asking Wolfram for a detailed update on their loved ones' respective statuses), and stopped when they saw Gisela.

"What happened?" Miriam asked.

"Cheri-sama…" Gisela whispered. Her lips twitched and she sniffled a bit, then reached up and rubbed furiously at her own eyes, as though angry at herself for something. "Cheri-sama…we lost Cheri-sama. We tried everything we could think of, but --"

Wolfram didn't bother listening to anything else the medic had to say. He pushed passed her and nearly broke the infirmary's door in his haste to get inside, followed closely by his wife, brother, and friends. Greta was by her grandmother's bedside, clutching the former Maou's hand and sobbing while Anissina tried to comfort her. Her younger siblings were huddled together at the foot of Cheri-sama's bed (they had stayed there through dinner, waiting for the others to return before going to eat themselves), except for Odelia, who had buried herself in the corner and was clinging to the cat she had been bringing for her uncle when the illness first struck. The twins looked up and flung themselves at their father the moment he appeared. Ahren and Elric stayed where they were, moving slightly apart to let their mother come stand between them, each wrapping an arm around her. Odelia pushed Conrad away when he went to ask if she was alright, then sank to the floor and buried her face in the patient cat's thick fur as she cried.

As called for under Shin Makoku custom, the funeral was held at sunset the following day. That night, Gunter got his wish when Gwendal was moved back to the room the two shared. Wolfram, Miriam, their children, and Conrad sequestered themselves away in the Maou's private sitting room for all of that night and much of the following day, emerging just long enough to gather some food and tea before going their separate ways for a while. Though Miriam didn't want to say anything to her husband or brother-in-law, she had the terrible feeling that Cheri-sama's death was just a prelude to something far worse.


	27. Adding to the Pain

I'm shifting my posting time from mornings to evenings and nights now, because school has started and it looks like my mornings are always going to be very busy. So here's the latest chapter. Look for another one sometime tomorrow night!

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**Chapter 26: Adding To the Pain**

It was just a few days after Cheri-sama's death and burial when Yozak appeared once more in Miriam's office. "Heika?"

"Yes, Yozak, you can come in," she said dully.

Yozak stepped into her office and approached her desk. Miriam finished writing out her latest letter, then set her pen down and looked up. "What is it?" she asked.

"Well, Heika, it appears that word of Cheri-sama's death has spread throughout Shin Makoku and to most of our neighbors and allies, as you ordered."

"Good. I mean…not good…well, you know what I mean."

"Right. But there's a problem, Heika."

Miriam looked up at him, the dark sorrow in her eyes clearly telling him that she didn't want to hear what the latest problem was. Unfortunately, she and Yozak both knew that her position as Maou required her to hear it. "Go ahead," she said tiredly.

"Heika…the Mazoku are getting angry," he said. "I've heard rumors that some are starting to blame the humans and half-Mazoku."

"What? Why?" Miriam asked, frowning.

Yozak shrugged. "The Mazoku are getting sick. We're not. There's never been much trust between Mazoku and everyone else. I'm not surprised they would start thinking we were spreading the disease on purpose or something."

Miriam pounded her closed fist on her desk. "I'm not going to stand for that," she declared.

"There might not be anything you can do," Yozak said. "After all," he pointed out, "we never did figure out what you are. If you're a half-breed like me, people are going to say you killed Cheri-sama and got Gwendal sick. Hell, they might say that anyway, just because we don't know what you are and you and Wolfram haven't gotten sick yet."

Miriam stared at him. She had never in her life both _felt_ so helpless and actually _been_ so helpless. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was, Heika," Yozak whispered. "I wish I was."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The first anti-human and anti-half-Mazoku riot took place the following day, in a large port city a few days' journey from Blood Pledge Castle. Miriam heard of it that evening because one of Yozak's men had been there investigating new cases of the disease, and had sent a messenger pigeon back to the castle with news of the riot. It wasn't long before other riots were happening all throughout Shin Makoku, even in the capital city. Trade came to a grinding halt once more, as their trading partners didn't want to send their people into situations where they might wind up dead.

The lack of trade wouldn't have been so bad, except that, as the summer wore on, it became terribly obvious that there wasn't going to be enough food in Shin Makoku to make it through the winter without trade. Miriam was finally able to make arrangements to send traders of her own into neighboring countries, but it was difficult to get those traders to their destinations in Shin Makoku safely. They were all humans and half-mazoku, after all, and the angry Mazoku population often saw the others' sudden monopoly on trade as more support for the theory that the humans and half-mazoku were conspiring against the full Mazoku. Miriam did her best to disabuse her Mazoku subjects of that notion. Unfortunately, she failed rather spectacularly at that.

And then, finally, a glimmer of hope appeared. Shortly after Cheri-sama's death, Miriam had sent all of the Mazoku servants and groundskeepers away, in the hopes of sparing them from the disease. The humans and half-Mazoku stayed, as they were so far proving immune to the disease. But there weren't many non-Mazoku working in the castle, and as a result Miriam and the others found themselves having to do jobs they wouldn't even have considered before this. Entire wings of the castle were closed off so they wouldn't need to worry about cleaning unused rooms, and meals became quick, one-course affairs to be bolted down whenever one could find the time between tasks. And that was how, on this one good day, Miriam came to be hauling a bucket filled with hot water to Gwendal and Gunter's room.

She made it there without sloshing too much water out of the bucket, and set her load down long enough to pound on the door and rest for a moment. As expected, Gunter greeted her. But she hadn't expected him to be smiling. "Er…what's with you?"

"Heika! Come inside, and look! Gwendal's awake!"

Miriam's eyes widened, and she stepped over her bucket to take a good look at Gwendal. He had been asleep for ages now, and Miriam had been certain she would never see him awake again. But sure enough, there he was, looking much worse than she had ever seen him, but still looking rather alert. His dark-blue eyes blinked up at her from a nest of pillows and blankets surrounding his frail form.

"Gwendal?" Miriam whispered, padding to his bedside and leaning over him to get a better look at his eyes.

"Miriam," he rasped. "You look good."

She smiled. "So do you." Gwendal snorted. "No really, you do," Miriam said. "After all, you're alive. We thought you'd be dead by now."

"It will take more than this to kill me," he said.

Miriam nodded and sniffled, fighting back tears. "Let me get your bath water," she whispered, patting his hand gently. She stood then and motioned for Gunter to follow her into the hall.

"When did he wake up?" she asked him as he closed the door behind them.

"Half an hour ago," Gunter said. "I wanted to make sure he was going to stay that way before telling anyone."

Miriam nodded. "Have you told him about his mother yet?"

Gunter shook his head. "No. I thought Conrad or Wolfram should do that."

"Alright. I'll let them know he's awake. They'll want to see him."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gwendal's condition improved rapidly once he woke up and could begin eating for himself again. As soon as he felt up to the task, he asked Miriam to start filling him in on what had been going on while he was ill. And so, Miriam began spending her afternoons at Gwendal's bedside, often with Gunter and the others there as well, attempting to hash out a plan for dealing with the disease and everything its appearance had caused. But there was no plan. Nothing they came up with seemed reasonable or feasible. And of course, things only got worse as summer drew to a close and autumn arrived.

"Have you considered sending ambassadors to our allies?" Gwendal asked.

"Sure. But who would we send? At this point, I'd be terrified of sending someone like Conrad or Yozak, and forget about a full human as well. The poor ambassador would be killed by our own people immediately upon returning to Shin Makoku…assuming he or she would be allowed through to begin with."

Gwendal nodded slowly, eating a spoonful of the broth Gunter had placed before him. "Letters are getting through, though?"

"Yes. I'm sending them with pigeons."

"Good. I think that's the best course of action now. Still no clue why this disease only infects Mazoku?"

"No clue," Miriam said. "And no cure, either. Some people recover, but most don't."

"Hmm. Is it possible that there is a cure, just not in Shin Makoku?"

Miriam shrugged. "Sure. But we're in no position to be going after it."

Gwendal drank the rest of his broth and handed the bowl to Gunter, then leaned forward and fixed Miriam with a hard gaze. "If this continues much longer, we might not have time for diplomacy," he said. "I know you know this. We must develop a plan of action, to be implemented if this disease is still here in the spring. We can't take many more months of this."

"Agreed. What do you propose?"

He leaned back against his pillows, and Gunter gently brushed some of his hair off his forehead before giving him a gentle kiss. Gwendal smiled at the other man, then turned back to Miriam. "I propose creating several small teams, which can then be sent on scouting missions, perhaps even into other countries. There are places where two or three people might be able to sneak over a boarder if needed."

Miriam snorted. "You think such places still exist?"

"He's right, Heika," Yozak interjected. "My scouts have found plenty of unguarded places along our boarders."

Miriam rubbed her chin as she thought. "But if our people were captured…"

"They would most likely be sent back to us, as long as they could provide evidence that they were harmless," Gwendal said. "This has been done before, though for different reasons."

The Maou sighed. "Well, I suppose we can try it, but not now. I don't want any teams we send getting stuck out there in the middle of winter. That won't be of any help to us."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

With Gwendal finally back to full health, Miriam was once again able to delegate some responsibilities. Gwendal was placed in charge of figuring out such things as how to put down the riots springing up all over the country and how to convince their allies that the aid Shin Makoku desperately needed was safe to send. Conrad wound up in charge of the entire military, and as harvest time neared he reorganized several military units to be in charge of harvesting and storing what crops there were in Shin Makoku. Miriam ordered all of the crops to be placed in state-owned storage, where they could be distributed fairly throughout the country (Ahren and Odelia were placed in charge of that). Despite protests from Miriam and Wolfram, their son Elric formed a scouting party with mazoku and non-mazoku members and went to scout the borders in the hopes of finding safe locations for exchanging goods with other nations. Yozak retained control of his unit and a few other all-human, all-half-mazoku, and mixed non-mazoku units. Their duty was to keep track of new outbreaks of the disease and do what they could to contain the outbreaks while still making sure those effected had access to the supplies they needed. When it appeared that quarantining sick people was slowing the spread of the disease, many families and even several entire villages shut themselves away from the outside world. For a short time that autumn, it looked like they had finally found a solution. There was even a three-week period just before the snow began where not a single new case appeared. Miriam began preparing to celebrate the beginning of the disease's end.

But celebrations would have to wait, for along with the first snowfall came a sudden eruption in new disease cases. Wolfram took over Gwendal's more diplomatic duties so his older brother's tactical mind could be put to better use cordoning off villages and stamping out riots. And then, one day, their worst nightmare to date came to pass.

Gwendal was enjoying a rare moment of quiet time with Gunter when a soggy, muddy, blood-covered soldier appeared before him, dripping dirty water all over Gunter's clean carpet. Under normal circumstances, Gunter would have been rather upset by this. As it was, he didn't really give a damn about the carpet. The soldier threw them a sloppy salute, then held up a battered, folded piece of paper. "Ith happened," he slurred. "The humanth haf declawed waw…" and without another word, he fell over, sprawling on the floor.

Gwendal frowned at him, then knelt at the man's side and pressed his fingers to the man's neck. He sighed. "No pulse. He's dead."

"Did he say the humans have declared war?" Gunter asked, still clutching the letter.

"Open that and find out," Gwendal said.

Gunter unfolded the note, held it out before him, and began to read. "_I have to send this letter by personal messenger, as the pigeons no longer work -- the opposition just shoots down any bird they see, and I don't trust them to miss a vital pigeon. A person, however, is smart enough to dodge when being chased or shot at and I feel I can trust this letter to get to you in this way. Shin Makoku's biggest port city is in ruins. The rioting and lack of provisions have destroyed the infrastructure almost entirely. We couldn't accept supply boats here even if they were coming, which we know they aren't. Yesterday, a combined coalition of non-mazoku declared war on the one stronghold of Mazoku remaining in the city. We have heard rumors that the Mazoku declared war back, and that other Mazoku and non-mazoku groups are declaring war on each other in other cities and villages across Shin Makoku. A new plan of action is needed from the Maou._" The lavender-haired man lowered the letter and stared, wide-eyed, at Gwendal. "Do we believe this?" he asked.

Gwendal took the letter and examined it, then pointed to a smudged mark on the bottom right corner. "It's the seal of one of Yozak's men. They are quite careful to protect their seals. I believe it." He looked over Gunter's shoulder, at the once-beautiful but now overrun and slowly-dying garden beyond. Gunter hadn't had time for tending roses in ages. "We must tell Miriam, though I fear what it will do to her to know of this."

"She'll find out eventually anyway," Gunter said sadly. "I think she'd rather hear it from us." He sighed and leaned forward just enough to rest his head on Gwendal's shoulder. "A civil war. Who would have ever thought it would come to this?"

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The pair arrived at the Maou's office to find it already filled to bursting and buzzing with the sounds of many voices. The people she had called together for a conference kept spilling into the hallway to have quick, private conversations with a few individuals before diving back into the fray. Gwendal and Gunter began nudging their way through, Gunter using his clout as Miriam's personal aide and Gwendal using his clout as himself to get as close to Miriam as they could. They were almost at her side when a hush fell over the room and all eyes turned to Elric, Miriam and Wolfram's second son, who was standing between his parents and who looked like he had just returned from a long and windy trip.

"There are forces massing here and here," he said, taking a long pointer from Greta and tapping it against the oversized map that had been haphazardly pinned to the wall. "In addition, they've fortified their side of our shared boarder in these locations." He turned his eyes, so much like his father's, to the rest of the room. "I haven't been around as long as anyone else here, and I certainly haven't lived through a war," he said, "but I'll be damned if that's not what they're preparing for."

"What are you talking about?" Gwendal asked.

Elric nodded to his uncles. "I just got back from scouting the boarder with Great Cimaron," he said. "It looks like they're preparing for a war with us."

Gunter studied the map. "You saw them gathering forces?" Elric nodded. "How many, and what kinds?"

"I don't know. Thousands, of all kinds except naval. I didn't make it down to the sea, but it's entirely possible they're gathering naval forces as well," Elric said.

"They're keeping an eye on events here and trying to take advantage of them," Gwendal rumbled, eyeing the map as though it had personally affronted him.

"The disease, you mean?" Miriam asked.

Gwendal exchanged a nervous look with Gunter, then extended the battered note to Miriam. "The disease, and the many problems that have grown from it."

Miriam read the letter slowly, a look of horror crossing her face as the words sank in. She turned to Wolfram and hissed, "Look at this!" He leaned over her shoulder to read, while the others in the room began whispering amongst themselves. Gunter turned when he felt someone jostling beside him and saw Conrad and Yozak appear at his side. "What's going on?" Conrad whispered to him.

Gunter opened his mouth to answer, but before he got the chance, Miriam asked, "This letter…how did you get it?"

"A soldier brought it to us in person," Gwendal said. "He died just after giving us the letter. The mark in the corner there indicates that it was written by one of Yozak's men."

Beside Gunter, Yozak bristled. "Let me see," he said, raising his hand over Gunter's head. Miriam passed the letter back to him, and Yozak read it quickly. "Yep, it's from one of mine," he said. "I know that seal -- made it for the commander of that squad myself." He looked up at Miriam. "This is bad, Heika."

"No kidding," she replied. She planted her hands on the paper-filled conference table before her and hung her head for a moment. Then, looking up and making eye contact with every person in the room (if only for a second), Miriam said, "Ladies and gentlemen, if that note is to be believed -- and I think it is -- then as of today, Shin Makoku has entered a state of civil war. It appears that the Mazoku have taken one side and the humans and half-mazoku have joined forces on the other. And now, this news Elric has brought also indicates that Great Cimaron is about to declare war on us."

Wolfram snorted. "Just like them, to wait until we're so weak we can barely resist them. That whole country is full of cowards."

"I'm from Great Cimaron and I'm no coward," a human near the back of the room protested.

"Yes, well, you're also not in Great Cimaron anymore," Wolfram replied. "You've been a man of Shin Makoku for years now, so you can hardly use yourself as an example." The man stopped protesting, and Wolfram looked away from him. "We have more pressing matters," he said. "This disease is the root cause of our current troubles. We have to get rid of it as soon as possible."

Miriam nodded, then sighed. "I need some time alone to think," she declared. "Wolfram, Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter, Yozak -- I expect to see you in my private chambers in two hours. Bring Anissina, Greta, Gisela, and my other children as well." She stepped away from the conference table, and the crowd parted to let her pass. They all watched her go in silence, then turned to a quiet discussion about what their options were. Gunter tugged on Gwendal's sleeve, and the two left to have a more private discussion of their own.


	28. Plans, Action, and Events

Some action is taken in the hopes of finding some answers, but things don't go as well as planned...

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**Chapter 27: Plans, Action, and Events**

Precisely two hours after Miriam left the meeting in her office, her friends and family members gathered outside the door to the private room she shared with her husband. Wolfram knocked, just to let her know they were there, then opened the door a bit and poked his head inside. "Miriam?"

"In here," she called from another part of the room. Wolfram stepped inside and turned towards her voice, to see the door leading to their private sitting room and their two hidden, private offices beyond that open. He led the others to the door, to find Miriam sitting on the couch before the fire in the sitting room. She glanced at them as they entered, then continued watching the fire as they found seats and arrayed themselves around her.

"Do you have a plan, Heika?" Gunter asked, his voice and face full of hope.

Miriam sat in perfect stillness for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. "Something of a plan, I suppose," she said. "Gwendal, you and I have discussed the possibility of secretly sending a team across our boarders into other nations to search for help, or perhaps even a cure for the disease. Do you think this is still a good idea?"

Gwendal pondered the question for a moment. "Yes, I do, though with Great Cimaron apparently preparing for war and a civil war going on around us, we must be very careful if we implement this plan."

Miriam nodded. "Do you think we could assemble a team that would be willing to go in winter? I hate to ask it of anyone, especially since this winter is supposed to be particularly harsh, but I'm afraid that if we wait much longer, we'll have no chance of sending anyone."

Again, Gwendal nodded. "We could, though I recommend creating a team of volunteers who know the risks."

"Alright," Miriam said. "Conrad --"

"I'll go," he said.

The Maou blinked at him. "That's not what I was going to ask you."

"I know," Conrad said, "but from the moment this idea first came up months ago, I've planned on volunteering to go. You don't need me here to run the military, you'll have Gwendal and Yozak for that." He gave her a brave smile. "There was a time when I traveled all over this country with Yuuri. I know many of the safest routes to wherever we need to go. Please, Heika, let me be part of this mission."

Miriam hesitated, eyes darting to her husband to seek his opinion. Wolfram looked worried, but he nodded. Miriam took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "Alright, then, Conrad, you can go."

"I'll go with him as well," Gunter declared, rising from his spot by the fire.

"Gunter!" Gwendal exclaimed, but Gunter held up a hand to stop him.

"I too have wanted to go on this mission ever since it was proposed. And admit it, Heika, you don't need me here either. You're quite good at making your own decisions, and you'll have plenty of help from Gwendal and Wolfram and your children."

Miriam bit her lip, but nodded again. "I'll miss your company, though, Gunter. Well, if you must go, you must go. Now then --"

"And me," Gisela said. Before anyone could voice a protest, she said, "Greta is more than capable of taking care of emergencies here, and you'll need a doctor on the team to help identify possible cures for this disease." Conrad and Gunter nodded. Miriam wilted a bit, but nodded as well.

"Moving on," she said weakly. "I…have been thinking a lot about this problem lately, and about what it means for me as Maou. Some time spent in a library with a few good history books has shown me that past Maous were bound to obey the will of Shinou-Heika. I know he isn't here any longer, but, with all of these terrible things happening, I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with me." She looked up at the others, her eyes filled with sorrow and pain. "I wish to step down as Maou."

A stunned silence greeted her announcement, then Wolfram turned and glared at her. "Idiot!" he shouted with a vehemence Miriam hadn't heard from him since her earliest days as Maou. "You really think this has something to do with you? How vain and self-centered can you get?"

"But Wolfram --" she began, raising her hands in a gesture of helplessness.

"But Wolfram nothing!" he declared. "You simply cannot step down now. Shin Makoku is in a state of chaos as it is. If you step down things will just get worse. And besides," he added pointing to Odelia, "everyone is convinced she's supposed to be the Maou after you. Do you really want to hand a mess like this over to your own daughter?"

"I can't do this anymore!" Miriam shrieked. "I just can't do this! Look at what's going on out there, Wolfram, just look! And look at who's buried out in the royal cemetery -- your own mother lost to this disease! Something is causing this to happen, and we can't find any good reason!"

"Well, you being Maou is hardly a good reason," Wolfram growled. "I swear on my mother's grave, Miriam, if you step down I'll…I'll…"

Gunter held up his hand to stop Wolfram, who clamped his mouth shut and glared at the royal aide. "Heika, where do you keep Morgif?" he asked.

Miriam pointed to her private office. "In there. Why?"

"Wait here," Gunter said. He disappeared into the office and emerged moments later, bearing Morgif reverently in both hands, which he had covered with his cape so as to avoid touching the sacred mazoku sword himself. "Do you remember, when you first arrived, how we had you tested with Morgif to see if you were the true Maou?"

"Yes…" Miriam said warily.

Gunter held the sword out to her. "Then consider this your second test. Morgif should still respond to you if you are still supposed to be the Maou. It probably won't be as spectacular as the first time, since it's already accepted you once. Rather, this time, we're looking for Morgif to not reject you."

Miriam stared at the sword resting in Gunter's outstretched hands, then gave a resigned sigh, wrapped her fingers around the hilt, and lifted the sword. At first, nothing happened, then the sword let out a deep, pleased-sounding thrum. "It's purring," she said dryly.

Gunter beamed. "Then you are still our rightful Maou," he said. "Morgif is incapable of lying about that."

"Fine," Miriam said. "I won't resign -- yet. If this mission of yours fails, though, I might still do it when you return."

Gunter bowed. "Just so long as you do wait until we return, Heika. I want to greet you as my Maou once more upon returning."

"I'll expect you three to write regularly," she said, looking at Gunter, Gisela, and Conrad in turn. "I want regular updates on your progress."

"Of course," Conrad said. "We'll take some of Yozak's special pigeons with us."

"Then, you can leave as soon as you're ready," Miriam said, "You have my blessing, and my wishes for a safe and speedy return."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The next morning, Conrad and Gwendal planned out a few possible routes, and Yozak selected his best pigeons to send with them. Gunter and Gwendal then sequestered themselves away for a few hours while Conrad spent some time with Wolfram and Gisela gave one last set of instructions to Greta and Anissina. They all had one last dinner together, and then, under cover of darkness, the trio left the castle and the capital on their mission. Those they left behind gathered at the stables to see them off in silence. Miriam had the distinct feeling that, as the possible saviors of Shin Makoku, it was hardly fitting for these three to be sneaking out like thieves. And yet, there was no other choice. If they were caught, there was a very good chance they would be held hostage until the end of the civil war, or perhaps even killed to serve as an example for others of the dangers of joining forces with the "other side." The trio led their horses out of the stable in complete silence, and their friends and relatives watched them go in equal silence. Miriam huddled under Wolfram's arm for comfort, and had to bury her face against him to keep from crying audibly as she watched the three leaving. Ahren, standing beside her, reached up to pat her back comfortingly. Finally, Conrad, Gunter, and Gisela vanished from sight, and Wolfram nudged Miriam to let her know it was time to go inside.

"Wolfram?" she whispered as they made their way across the castle grounds to the nearest door.

"Hmm?"

"What would you do if I stepped down as Maou?"

Wolfram shook his head. "Nothing. I would follow you. But you know…sometimes I say stupid things when I'm upset."

Miriam shook her head. "It's fine. I understand."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

For the first few months of their mission, all was well with Gunter, Gisela, and Conrad. They sent letters back to the Castle at irregular but frequent intervals (Conrad believed that would make it just a touch harder for enemies to track them), and though they rarely said anything specific about where they were, Gwendal was still able to plot a reasonably accurate version of their route on a map. He and Conrad had developed a code for such things long ago, and though they didn't have much practice in using it, the code still came in handy. More often than not, Gunter was the letter-writer, and his letters almost always contained two parts -- a public part, meant for Miriam and whoever else felt like reading it, and a private part for Gwendal's eyes only. Nobody knew what Gunter wrote to Gwendal, only that it tended to turn the other man's face a brilliant shade of red. Anissina bemoaned the fact that she didn't have the time or supplies to make an invention that would let them know just what in Gunter's letters so embarrassed Gwendal.

The first anniversary of the disease's arrival in Shin Makoku was marked by the sudden arrival of the civil war in the capital city. Though Blood Pledge Castle was not attacked, Shinou's Temple was. The Temple and its inhabitants were under siege for almost two weeks before Yozak and his unit grew tired of trying to break the siege and decided to attempt a daring rescue of Ulrike and the other priestesses within. They had just made it to their designated gathering spot at the back of the temple when a great explosion rocked the building and the surrounding area. Yozak and his men wasted no time, swarming over the wall and rushing into the Temple without a second thought. The priestesses at first thought that they too were attackers, but quickly recognized Yozak and rallied around him. But they were sorely outnumbered, and the Temple's attackers turned out to be a group of Mazoku intent on destroying what they saw as an institution sympathetic to humans and half-breeds. The combined maryoku of the attackers was more than Yozak's men or the priestesses and Temple guards could handle. Yozak was knocked out by flying debris long before the battle was over, and when he woke up hours later in the safety of the Castle (where some of his men had taken him upon seeing him fall), his first question was what had happened to Ulrike.

It was Miriam who broke the news -- Ulrike had died in the battle, valiantly trying to defend the Temple's inner sanctum from the invaders. The tiny oracle hadn't stood a chance.

Things grew very somber in the castle after that, though the dark atmosphere was punctuated by the occasional rays of light that were Gunter's letters. Though dealing with a very dangerous subject, the normally bubbly royal aide did his best to reassure the folks back home and help keep their spirits up with cute stories, jokes about what happened on their trip, and bits of news that he thought would give them hope. And indeed, his letters had the intended effect.

But then, one day, a letter arrived that seemed to indicate something was terribly wrong.

"Does this make any sense to you?" Wolfram asked Miriam, sounding very exasperated.

Miriam took Gunter's latest letter from him and read it over. And read it again. By the end of her third read-through, she looked quite sour. "Good skies, is he trying to be incomprehensible?"

"I have no idea," Wolfram muttered. "I like Gunter, don't get me wrong, but he's always been a bit weird."

"Let me see," Anissina said, leaning forward and extending her hand to Miriam. The Maou handed the letter over and let Anissina read it. The Mazoku woman's face contorted in alarm as she read. "Somehow, I don't think Gunter wrote this on purpose," she said.

"Eh?" Miriam asked.

"We need Conrad or Gisela to write a letter," Anissina continued. "I need to know what else is happening to Gunter, and only they can tell us. This is a very bad sign, you'd think they would have let us know what was going on before now, or even turned around and come back --"

"Anissina, what the hell are you on about?" Miriam asked angrily.

The other woman turned to her, surprised, then raised and eyebrow and focused on Wolfram instead. "You didn't tell her about your mother, did you?"

Wolfram sighed and shook his head. "No," he mumbled.

"Do you want to, or should I?" Anissina asked.

Wolfram glared at her, then turned to Miriam, taking her hands gently in his. "Miriam, you know how we wouldn't let you in to see Mother and Gwendal much before Mother died? It was mostly because we didn't want you to see what was happening and be more frightened than you already were. You had enough to deal with. And, with that in mind, there's a lot we didn't tell you about what happened to them, either." He paused, took a deep breath, then continued. "Mother had a rougher time of it than Gwendal. A little while before she died, she started exhibiting a strange symptom…she would…say things that were completely nonsensical and incomprehensible to anyone but herself. They…well, Gunter's letter reminds me very much of that."

Miriam blinked. "Well, if Mother had the symptom, than Gwendal must have had it too, right? So, there's a good chance that Gunter, if he is sick, will be fine, right?"

Wolfram shook his head. "Gwendal never had this symptom. And Gwendal is the one who lived. I don't know what could be going on with Gisela or Conrad right now, but if I were them I'd be very frightened of what's happening to Gunter right now. I think…I think we're about to lose him for good."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gunter's strange, incomprehensible letters lasted for just over a month, growing steadily worse. But, though the letters were disturbing, their continued arrival at Blood Pledge Castle let everyone know that Gunter, at least, was still alive. As long as the letters kept arriving, everyone had hope.

And then, once day, it occurred to Miriam that they hadn't gotten any letters from Gunter in over a week. By the time the end of the second letterless week rolled around, everyone was certain that Gunter had finally met his end. He would have sent letters for as long as he was alive, after all. The fact that his letters had stopped seemed to indicate that he was gone.

Gwendal fell into a moody state of depression that, while understandable, proved difficult to deal with. The others soon came to realize that the best way to handle this was to leave Gwendal alone to work through it himself. They made it clear that he could rely on them to help, of course, and Gwendal let them know that he would turn to them if he needed anything. After that, the castle became strangely quiet and tense, even comparing with the atmosphere before.

As spring became summer once again, the civil war in Shin Makoku grew worse. Nobody had tried storming the castle yet, but everyone was certain it was only a matter of time. Three of Wolfram and Miriam's children threw themselves into improving their already extensive knowledge of and skill with fighting arts -- Ahren favored the use of the bow and arrow, while Odelia became an even more proficient sword fighter and Elric perfected his technique with twin long-bladed knives. The twins, for their part, preferred to stay out of fighting, and despite their father's insistence that staying out of battle might not be an option for long, they refused to learn to fight. Odelia quickly lost what little respect she had ever had for her older sisters, who had always struck her as vain and too proud but had never struck her as outright stupid until now. Then again, Odelia had never struck anyone as warrior material, until the war finally arrived on their doorstep.


	29. Warriors of Darkness and Light

Moving steadily along...for those wanting to know what's up with Yuuri, he's coming soon. Really. I swear.

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**Chapter 28: Warriors of Darkness and Light**

She had been sleeping peacefully -- well, as peacefully as it was possible to sleep these days -- when the quiet boom roused her from her dreams. Odelia grumbled in frustration and rolled over, cracking her eyes open just enough to look out her window. What she saw was enough to force her to full wakefulness. Outside, somewhere beyond the far section of the castle visible from her window, a thick column of smoke curled its way to the sky. Two more muffled booms broke the night's silence, and two more columns of smoke appeared on either side of the first. Odelia felt determination rising inside her as she sat and threw her thick blankets away. Someone was trying to get into the castle, or perhaps had already gotten into the castle and was just trying to cause more chaos and destruction. Either way, she wasn't about to stand for that. This was her home, the only one she had ever known, and her loved ones were here. She had lost enough people to this disease and to this war already. Time to take matters into her own hands.

Odelia rolled out of bed and crouched on her floor, feeling around under the bed until her hand found what she was looking for -- a long, narrow wooden case. She slid the case out from under her bed and unlatched it, revealing her two swords, each made to her personal specifications. Odelia pulled the swords from their case and set them on her bed, then scrambled to her wardrobe and dug around until she found her darkest tunic and pants, both deep shades of blue. Running around her in her nightgown wouldn't be smart, after all. She tossed the nightgown aside and pulled the tunic and pants on as quickly as she could, shoved her feet into her tall boots, and strapped her swords to her body, one at her side and the other on her back. She grabbed a thick piece of string to tie her long hair back out of the way, then slowly opened her bedroom door and slipped into the dark hallway.

The interior of the castle was silent enough to make Odelia wonder if she was the only person left alive in the entire building. She crept past the room Ilaria and Idonea shared, past the rooms once occupied by Conrad and Gisela, past her parents' room and her uncle Gwendal's room, and finally arrived on one of the landings of the huge staircase connecting the floors of the castle in this wing. She looked out the grand windows framing the landing and narrowed her eyes. The columns of smoke were still rising, and no new ones had appeared. She was just about to turn away when a brief flicker of movement caught her eye. She pressed herself against the wall beside one of the windows, then peered out once more and trained her emerald eyes on the spot…there it was again, a small figure creeping about in the courtyard, looking for a way into the castle itself. The castle walls had been breached, and they were about to be invaded. This was no time for heroics. Turning on her heel, she raced to the nearest door -- Gwendal's -- and pounded on it with all her strength. "Uncle Gwendal!"

She heard a curse from inside the room, the sound of Gwendal walking to the door, and then a fourth boom, this one so close it shook the castle. Odelia barely managed to keep her balance, but she leaned against the wall and remained on her feet. Gwendal's door flew open and he appeared, wild-eyed and more frantic than she had ever seen him. "What?" he barked. Just down the hall, other doors opened and the inhabitants of the rooms beyond stepped out.

"That was an explosion," Elric said, fighting with his uncooperative belt.

"The castle walls have been breached, there are invaders in the grounds," Odelia snapped. "I can't fight them alone. Are you coming?"

"Ahren, get your archers on the roof," Miriam said. "Elric, Gwendal, go with Odelia. Where the hell are Yozak and his division, shouldn't they have stopped this from happening?" Without waiting for an answer, she disappeared back into her room. Odelia motioned to her brother and her uncle, then raced off down the hallway to find a way out into the courtyard.

"We need to take them by surprise," Gwendal said.

Odelia nodded. "Right. Any ideas?"

"Yes. Come." Gwendal veered off, leading them down a long-unused hallway. A heavy door stood closed at the end, but he made quick work of lifting the bar across it and opening said door. The trio found themselves in a part of the castle that hadn't been used since Miriam dismissed all the servants so long ago. "We can circle around them if we cut through the closed-off parts of the castle," Gwendal said.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Ahren raced up the straight staircases as far as he could go, shouting for the rest of the castle archers to join him as he went. And join him they did, streaming out of the rooms they had been housed in, carrying their bows and quivers packed to bursting with arrows. "We need to surround the courtyard!" Ahren shouted to them. "I need men on the towers and all along the upper level walkways!" He got a chorus of shouted acknowledgements in return, and as he raced through the castle hallways with his archers, small clumps of them broke off to take up positions throughout the upper levels of the castle. Ahren led the last group up a winding staircase to the best position for archery in the castle, a place where he would have a good overview of the entire courtyard.

"Positions!" he shouted to his group, and the archers scrambled to obey. "I want the entire courtyard covered! Make sure you aim well -- the Maou and her family will be down there fighting. Don't shoot any of them!"

"Sir!" one of the archers shouted, voice filled with fear. "Sir, they're swarming the courtyard!"

Ahren leaned over the wall between two parapets just enough to get a good look at what was going on below. Indeed, the enemy forces were flooding the open area beneath him, and they seemed to be completely unhindered.

"Where is everyone?" another archer hissed. "We can't take them all on our own!"

"We're going to have to for now," Ahren said grimly. "Archers! Make sure none of our people are down there, and aim around them if they are. Otherwise," he continued, drawing and preparing his own first arrow, "fire at will."

He had barely finished speaking when a deadly rain of arrows poured down on the invaders.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam skidded to a halt and looked down the narrow, dark hallway that connected the barracks to the rest of the castle. She hesitated, then turned and stalked off down the hallway. Wolfram, who had been following her obediently until now, stared after her in confusion. "Miriam, the battle's going on out _there_," he said, pointing the way they had been going. "What are you doing?"

"The barracks are on the same side of the castle as those explosions," she said. "We've come all this way to hit the enemy from behind. Fine. But you know…Yozak should be doing that already. I want to know what the hell happened to him." She unhooked the latch keeping the barracks door locked, then tried to push the door open. At first, it wouldn't budge, no matter what she did. Finally, frustrated, she took a step back and kicked the door as hard as she could. The door flew open, slamming against the wall and bouncing back towards her, but Miriam had stepped forward and now held her hand out to stop it. She stared in shock at the scene before her.

Yozak was standing in the middle of the room, shouting at his men and directing them as they hauled bags of sand and buckets of water in a desperate attempt to put out the fire raging at the other end of the barracks. Miriam glanced down to see what had been blocking the door, and saw that someone had jammed a weak board against the it. The force of her kick had been enough to snap the thin board. "Yozak!"

"Heika, get back! We have to put this fire out!"

"We have more urgent issues than this!" she shouted back. "The castle is being invaded! Attackers are swarming the courtyard! The must have caused those explosions to start this fire and keep you busy!"

Yozak turned to stare at her, incredulous. "There's no possible --" He was interrupted as a great, pained cry went up outside. "What was that?"

"Sounds like the battle's already started," Wolfram said grimly. He didn't bother waiting for anyone else. Instead, he turned back the way he and Miriam had come and raced out to the courtyard.

"Right," Yozak said. "You!" he pointed to a group of men who, though able to fight the fire, had injuries just bad enough to make them a liability in battle. "Stay here and work on putting out this fire. The rest of you, we're following Maou-Heika." The soldiers cheered, some dropping their buckets or sandbags to pick up their weapons, the others redoubling their efforts at hauling water and sand to put out the fire. Miriam nodded to Yozak and turned to follow her husband, Yozak and his men trailing close behind.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Gwendal leaned a cautious eye around the corner, watching as hundreds of arrows rained down on the courtyard before him. Many of them struck the invaders, and a pained cry rose from the crowd. Several fell, mortally wounded, while the others continued to move towards the castle walls. A second barrage of arrows appeared, and more invaders fell, but hardly enough to make a dent in the attacking group. "Looks like your brother is going to do well tonight," Gwendal said grimly

"So will we," Odelia replied. "You two ready?"

Gwendal and Elric nodded, Gwendal resting his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword and Elric drawing his long knives. Their blades flashed wickedly in the dim moonlight. "Then let's get to it," Odelia said.

As though they shared one mind, Gwendal, Odelia, and Elric leapt from their hiding place and dove into the fray, Gwendal and Odelia drawing their swords as they met their first opponents. Around them, the number of arrows falling from the sky sharply decreased, but the ones that kept coming were very well-aimed. Odelia cut down her first opponent and took a moment to glance up at the walls, throwing a hasty salute to the archers there before focusing on the battle once more. She barely noticed when, to her left and farther down the courtyard, a blond head appeared in one of the many doors leading into the castle's lower level.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Wolfram stepped through the double doors separating the courtyard from the castle's lower levels and took a moment to study the scene before him. The upper levels of the castle were covered in archers, shooting down at the enemy below and being very careful not to shoot Elric, Odelia, and Gwendal, who had just appeared from another section of the castle and were currently making quick work of clearing their little patch of territory of enemies. Elric's knives flashed as he cut through two men coming at him from either side, and Gwendal appeared at his back to jab his sword over Elric's shoulder and into the chest of a third man coming at him head-on. Odelia threw a flying kick at one opponent, braced herself, and whirled to slash across the torso of a second man. The cut wasn't clean enough to kill him instantly, and he fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding stomach in a vain attempt to stanch the flow of blood. Odelia leapt over him and continued cutting a path of carnage through the battle.

Wolfram balled his hands into fists, his entire body tense, then raised his hands and opened them. A ball of fired appeared in each palm, and he threw the fireballs with all his strength. A knot of invaders close by screamed and staggered around as the flames engulfed them, struggling to put the flames out and failing miserably.

Miriam grabbed Wolfram's shoulder. "Make us a distraction!" she shouted over the sounds of battle.

Her husband nodded, pausing long enough to gather his strength, then thrust his hand forward and sent a near-solid wall of flame at the attackers. As those nearest him took the brunt of his attack and fell, Miriam, Yozak, and the soldiers boiled out from behind him and into the thick of battle. The moment Miriam appeared in the courtyard, the arrows ceased, and Wolfram looked up long enough to notice the archers drawing back, disappearing from view. He didn't have much time to think about that, though, as he was suddenly faced with a group of burly men whose assignment appeared to be taking the fire-using Mazoku down. Wolfram gave them a grim smile, then once more loosed a volley of fireballs on them.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"The Maou is in the courtyard!" one of the archers shouted.

"Pull back!" Ahren shouted. "Signal to the others! They're to pull back and make for that side of the castle." He pointed at the spot, not too far from where his mother and father had just appeared, where the invaders were streaming into the courtyard. "Surround the area! We'll catch them in a crossfire."

As Ahren and his group left their stations and re-entered the castle, a messenger remained behind long enough to unfurl her message flags and wave the other archers to their new destination. Once they had the message, she too disappeared inside the castle and followed the defenders to their new spot.

Ahren kicked the door to his new station open and approached the wall to assess the situation. "Sir, the barracks are burning!" someone shouted.

"Nothing we can do about it now," he said tersely. "Stations! I want these bastards kept out of our castle!"

"Yes sir!" the archers chorused. Within moments, the steady stream of soldiers entering the courtyard slowed to a trickle as Ahren and his archers once more rained death on the enemy.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Odelia danced through the battle, sword flashing as she blocked blows and took advantage of openings in her attackers' defenses to cut them down one by one. When she found herself surrounded with no apparent way out, she snorted, drew her second sword, and resumed her almost indiscriminate slashing and stabbing.

"Odelia, down!" her father's voice cut though the fray. Odelia obeyed, dropping to the ground without a second thought as several white-hot fireballs shot by overhead, hitting some of her attackers. She stood again, and one man who had avoided her father's barrage rushed at her, a battle ax held aloft and face twisted in rage. Odelia side-stepped and drove one of her swords into his side, dimly noting that he already had something sticking out of his back. As she yanked her sword from his side, Elric appeared to retrieve one of his knives.

"I've got your back, sis," he said.

"And I've got yours. Where's Uncle Gwen?"

"Over there." Elric pointed.

Gwendal wasn't doing so well. He had never recovered his full strength after beating the mystery disease, and though he had done quite well in the first several minutes of the battle, he was starting to falter now. Three of the attackers had ganged up on him, and Gwendal was barely holding his own against them.

"Find Mother and cover her," Odelia told her brother. "I'm going to help him." She turned away from Elric and dove back into the depths of the battle.

The adrenaline coursing through her veins had removed all traces of fear, and as she went to help her uncle, her only thoughts were of making sure her loved ones got out alive. She didn't even notice the change in the enemy soldiers surrounding her, and her mind barely registered that they weren't attacking her as she passed. In fact, she didn't notice anything amiss until she came up behind the men attacking Gwendal. She had just raised her sword to strike when, suddenly, they stopped attacking her uncle and began staggering around in confusion. Gwendal and Odelia both stopped and frowned at the attackers.

"What happened? I can't see a thing!" one exclaimed.

"Lunar eclipse?" a second said.

"There's not enough moon for that to matter," the third said. "What the bleeding hell is going on here? Where are you two?"

Odelia rolled her eyes, and before anyone had a chance to react, she stabbed her swords through two of the attacker's hearts while Gwendal made swift work of decapitating the third. They teamed up then, flowing through the battle, leaving a wake of destruction behind. And through it all, any soldier Odelia selected as a target and then approached would suddenly lose his bearings, behaving as though he couldn't see, and would become an easy target for either Gwendal or Odelia. They soon had a huge swathe of the courtyard cleared out.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam glanced up from her own battle as a knife flashed by past her head and struck her opponent in the throat. Then man staggered and fell, fingers scrabbling at his neck, and then his eyes rolled back in his head as he finally died. Elric appeared at Miriam's side, stepping forward just long enough to collect his knife before giving his mother a tense look.

"There are too many, even with the archers," he said grimly.

"I know. But I've never had the best control of majutsu. I need time to collect my strength and focus my energy," Miriam said.

Her son tilted his head and studied her. "Can you do something if I can give you that time?" Miriam nodded. "Then get to it. I'll keep them off you." And with that, he became a blur of action, darting around his mother and slicing the air with his blades, driving some opponents away and killing those stupid enough to get close. Miriam watched him for a moment, then pushed her worries aside, planted Morgif firmly in the ground, and closed her eyes. She thought about the few times she had needed to focus her maryoku enough to use majutsu, recalling the feelings and tracing the flow of energy in her body. She felt her strength building, rising, and then…she was ready.

"Elric! Stay back!" she shouted.

"Right!" he answered, darting away from her.

Miriam turned to face the onslaught of enemies entering the courtyard. As Elric had pointed out, even Ahren and his archers were barely able to stem the tide. Time to do something about that. "You are _not_ allowed in here!" Miriam declared. And with that, she raised her hands a sent a blast of pure, unadulterated majutsu at them. There were loud shouts, a flash of light as bright as the noonday sun, and then Miriam knew nothing more.


	30. Aftermath

So, alice22 and I have both been wondering, where is everyone? I know you're out there, reading this...Anyway, the drama continues and Yuuri's appearance grows ever closer with this chapter. Let me know what you think!

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**Chapter 29: Aftermath**

Miriam groaned weakly and let her eyes flutter open, but decided that the light flooding into them was too bright and squeezed them shut again. She felt a gentle and familiar hand on her brow and her lips twitched into a smile. She let out a contented sigh and buried herself deeper in the soft pillows.

"Miriam?" Wolfram's voice whispered in her ear. "Please wake up. We're worried about you."

"Nng, noooo," she moaned.

"Not even for me?" his voice whispered.

She grumbled to herself, then cracked her eyes open just enough to shoot her husband a glare. His green eyes blinked back at her. "Go away," she muttered. "I was having such a good nap."

"Hmph, 'Nap' is hardly the word I would use for it," Anissina's voice came from somewhere behind Wolfram.

"Gisela never taught us how to deal with this sort of thing," Greta's voice agreed.

"We have our hands full enough treating other injuries," Anissina continued.

"Just be glad we had more injuries than deaths," Odelia chastised. "Most of the people who died in that battle were invaders.

Miriam opened her eyes a bit more and tilted her face towards Wolfram. "It…it wasn't a dream?"

"What, the battle?" he asked, sounding confused. "I should hardly think so."

The Maou raised her head just enough to look at everyone else. The twins were sitting on the foot of her bed, fussing. Her other three children were huddled together by the window, alternately surveying what was going on outside, watching their mother, and glaring at the fussing twins. Anissina and Greta were sprawled in chairs nearby. Gwendal had curled up on the couch and fallen asleep. Wolfram, though, was sitting at Miriam's side, holding her hand in his own, stroking the back of it so gently that she almost couldn't feel it.

"That was quite the majutsu attack you used in the end, there," Ahren said admiringly. "And just in time, too -- we were starting to run out of arrows. You managed to kill the remaining attackers before they could get through."

Miriam nodded. "The barracks fire? What happened there?"

"Yozak's men got it under control, finally," Wolfram said. "Some of them got burned in the process, though, and half of the barracks are unusable now. We had to reopen a wing of the castle to house the soldiers."

"That's fine, as long as Yozak and his men are alright," Miriam said, letting her head fall back on the pillows. "Anything else I need to know about?"

Wolfram shook his head. "You've been out for a few days," he said. "Odelia took charge of everything. The bodies have all been buried, and the parts of the castle wall damaged in the explosion are being repaired." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Um…all of Gunter's gardens in that part of the castle grounds were totally destroyed in the battle, though. Mother's grave sustained some damage from the explosions, as well."

Miriam sighed and closed her eyes, giving Wolfram's hand a squeeze. "Well, Gunter's gardens were in rough shape anyway. We'll have to try reviving them when this war is over. Is Mother's grave going to be fine where it is, or do we need to move her?"

"I think we can leave her for now," Wolfram said softly.

"Then we'll do that. Now, I'm still tired. I think I need some normal sleep. Wake me for dinner, alright?" And with that, Miriam fell asleep once more.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Father? Can I talk to you?"

Wolfram set his diary down and nodded to his daughter. "You can always talk to me, Odelia. What's on your mind?"

She scowled. "A lot of things, but I'm busy, so I can only ask you about one thing one. During the battle, when I went to help Uncle Gwen…well, any time I targeted an enemy and then went after him, the enemy started acting all confused, like he couldn't see me or Uncle Gwen or anything at all. That didn't happen at any other time in the battle, and I've talked to Ahren and Elric and they say it's never happened to them. You and Mother have strong maryoku and can use majutsu to attack enemies…do you think this is like that?"

Wolfram leaned back in his chair and pondered his daughter's words. "I've never heard of anything quite like it," he said slowly, "but I'm no expert in majutsu, either. It's entirely possible that your majutsu is an ability to confuse people so thoroughly that they think they can't see anything around them. A control of darkness, if you will, sort of like how your mother controls light or something very much like it."

Odelia frowned. "Then why have I never been able to use it before now?"

Wolfram shrugged. "Have you needed to? Your mother never used hers until she had a need for it. Neither did I, for that matter."

"Hmm. I guess that could be it," she said. "Well, I need to go oversee the demolition of the burned-out half of the barracks." Stepping around her father's desk, she leaned forward and gave him a quick hug of thanks before vanishing from his office. Wolfram watched her go, pondering her apparent new-found power.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The next few months were taken up almost entirely with fortifying the castle and the surrounding city. Miriam wanted to make sure no attack like the recent one ever happened again. The seasons changed with barely an acknowledgment from the castle's inhabitants, who had far more important things to worry about. The one-year anniversary of the date Gunter, Conrad, and Gisela left on their ill-fated mission came and went with only a small memorial ceremony for the trio. Gwendal in particular was unwilling to believe that they were all dead just yet, and though he wanted to remember the three just as much as the rest of the castle, he didn't want a huge memorial ceremony of the type given for the dead. The others agreed to his request, and in the end the memorial amounted to a brief speech from Gwendal and a silent prayer that the trio would somehow return, safe and sound. And then, life went back to normal in the castle -- or at least, it went back to what passed as normal these days.

Spring was just ending when word came that Great Cimaron had just made their first move. The small group Yozak had stationed near the border to keep an eye on events there came racing into the castle grounds one unseasonably cold day, shouting for Yozak and the Maou to come quickly and hear what they had to say. Elric was in the courtyard with Ilaria and Idonea when the group arrived, and he ordered them to follow him to Gwendal's office, where Gwendal, Miriam, and Wolfram were deep in a conversation about the state of farming in Shin Makoku. Elric stopped to get Yozak along the way, and the motley group appeared in Gwendal's office a short time later.

"Heika, Excellencies, Sir," the group's leader said, stepping forward, "we rushed here as fast as we were able. Just four days ago, along our farthest border with Great Cimaron, an army began marching into Shin Makoku. We believe that Great Cimaron intends to wage war with us."

Miriam exchanged a despairing look with her husband. "How can we possibly manage this?" she said.

Wolfram shook his head and opened his mouth to answer, but dissolved into a coughing fit before he could manage any words. "I need something to drink," he said when he regained his breath.

"Elric, go bring us a pitcher of water and some glasses, please," Gwendal said. As the young man headed off to do his uncle's bidding, Gwendal folded his hands together and leaned forward across his desk. "Unless we have evidence that Great Cimaron has formed an alliance with one side in this war, I think we will be alright. After all, they will be fighting everyone."

"A three-way war hardly strikes me as 'alright'," Miriam said in alarm.

"I agree," Gwendal said, "but if Great Cimaron's army has to fight our enemies as well as us…well, that could work to our advantage. But I need to know more about the situation first."

Miriam sighed and stood, pacing around the room for a moment. She was pulled from her reverie by Wolfram coughing again. "Sorry," he said. "I need some fresh air, if you'll excuse me." And with that, he too stood, but instead of pacing as Miriam had he left the room and headed for open air. Miriam watched him go, brow wrinkling with concern.

"Do you think he's okay?" she asked Gwendal.

Gwendal frowned after his youngest brother. "I don't know. How many new cases of the disease have been reported lately?"

"Not many, and all of them far from here," Yozak said.

"Perhaps Wolfram really does just need some fresh air, then," Gwendal said. "It is a bit stuffy in here. We'll keep an eye on him, just in case."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Just about a week later, Wolfram sat in his office in the dead of night, hunched over his desk and fighting back tears. His body had never hurt so much, not even after that battle months ago. And there was the coughing…it was almost constant now. Miriam was growing more and more worried by the minute._ Well,_ he mused_, at least I don't have a fever yet…_

He frowned. He might not have a fever, but damn if it wasn't hot in here. He stood and opened a window, taking a deep breath of the relatively fresh air outside. But after several minutes of standing by the open window, with the cool night air flooding over him, Wolfram didn't actually feel any cooler. His stomach lurched in fear, then lurched again as a sudden twinge of nausea appeared. He clutched his stomach, wavered for a moment, then darted out of his office and into the nearest bathroom, where he promptly got sick. And kept getting sick, for several long minutes. It was finally over, and he stumbled to the water jug he always kept half-full for washing his hands, splashing some of the water into his mouth to rid himself of the taste of vomit. He dried his hands and waited until they stopped feeling cooler than the rest of his body, then pressed one to his forehead and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He looked sick, he had just vomited, he had been coughing for days…and he had a fever.

"No…" he whispered. "No, not this, anything but this."

He stumbled back to his office, where he had his diary open on his desk, and flipped back through the entries until he reached the spot where he had recorded the symptoms of the mystery disease. Sure enough, he had several -- all of the ones that appeared in the earliest stages. Flipping a few entries ahead, he reached his descriptions of what had happened to his mother and Gwendal when they had been sick. Aside from the fact that he wasn't so weak that he couldn't support himself yet, as had happened when his mother and Gwendal began vomiting, his symptoms matched theirs exactly.

Closing his eyes, he sank into his seat and felt around for his pen. When he found it, he opened his eyes, flipped to a blank page, and recorded the date. For a moment, he pondered what to say, then settled on one simple thing:

_It has me. Hope is lost._


	31. Hope Regained

You know, I just realized that this story recently passed my record for number of hits. Pretty cool, ne? It's almost my longest to datewith well over 30 chapters to be posted by the time this is done. All in all, I'm quite proud of it . Okay, enough talking from me, on with the new chapter.

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**Chapter 30: Hope Regained**

Yuuri read the last sentence Wolfram had written over and over again, mind racing. He recalled the symptoms Cheri-sama and Gwendal had suffered while ill, and had to fight back images of the same things happening to Wolfram. It certainly explained the bloody rag in the basin at his bedside. _This whole diary explains a lot…_ Yuuri felt a sharp pang of guilt as he thought of all the people he had known who were now dead or missing, all the people he had never gotten the chance to say goodbye to or to see one more time. Cheri-sama, Ulrike, Gisela, Gunter, Conrad, and now it seemed he had arrived just in time to see Wolfram's exit. Or perhaps not. A small spark of hope lit up in Yuuri's chest, and he glanced up at the date on the diary's last entry. Almost two months ago. Wolfram had been fighting the illness for almost two whole months. That was about how long Gwendal had held on, wasn't it? And Gwendal had lived. Perhaps Wolfram would too. Perhaps all he needed to live was a cure, or at least the hope that a cure could be found. Perhaps all he needed was someone else willing to go looking for that cure.

Perhaps that was why Yuuri had been brought back to Shin Makoku -- to give Wolfram, and everyone else, hope.

Yuuri stretched and looked out the office's windows. Outside, the sky was growing lighter. There were no birds to sing and greet the day, though. It seemed that the fighting had driven them all away. The former Maou turned and blew out the remains of the candles, laid Wolfram's pen across the diary once more, then stood and padded out into the sitting room. He carefully pushed the door into Wolfram's bedroom open and slipped inside, then tiptoed to his former fiancé's bedside once more. The other man was still asleep, eyes closed and breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Ah, Wolfram," Yuuri whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. "I'm sorry. Would things have turned out differently if I had stayed? Would this war have happened?" He pondered the questions in silence for a moment, then shook his head. "I wish I knew. Well, I guess I should go talk to your wife now…see what she needs me to do…" He looked at Wolfram's face for a moment, sighed, then stood and turned to leave.

"Yuuri?"

The voice was so rough and weak as to be almost completely unrecognizable. Yuuri, who wasn't expecting anyone to say his name, jumped and jerked around, staring down at the bed in astonishment. "Wolfram?"

Wolfram's eyes, glassy with fever and sickness, blinked up at him. "Yuuri…it really is you…"

"Yeah, I finally got to come back," Yuuri said, crouching down near Wolfram's head and taking Wolfram's hand in his own. "I wanted to come back before, but something wouldn't let me."

"We…wondered…about that," Wolfram wheezed, each word forced out between a painful-sounding gasp for air. "We…missed you…Yuuri…"

"I missed you too," Yuuri said. "And it looks like I shouldn't have left. I…er…read your diary, Wolfram, and it's all so terrible, this war and the disease, and Miriam blaming herself for everything."

"Wimp," Wolfram said, his breath hissing out in a laugh that turned into a violent cough. Yuuri grabbed the rag from the basin and held it near Wolfram's mouth, but Wolfram's coughing fit ended almost as quickly as it had begun and he weakly pushed Yuuri's hand away. "Miriam's…good Maou…met her…yet?"

Yuuri nodded, decided to leave out all mention of his capture and imprisonment at Odelia's hands. "Yeah, I met Miriam, and your kids. You have a beautiful family. You should be proud of them."

Wolfram smiled, closing his eyes and seeming to sink farther into the pillows. "I am." He just lay there for several long moments, and Yuuri was convinced that he had fallen asleep once more, when Wolfram's fingers tightened around his for a brief moment. "Yuuri?"

"Hmm?"

"Please…help her…help us."

"I will, Wolfram," Yuuri reassured him. "I will."

Wolfram nodded. "Good…" And with that, he really did fall asleep once more.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Yuuri slipped from Wolfram's room, quietly closing the door behind him, and headed down to the throne room in the hopes of finding someone to lead him to breakfast. The halls were deserted at this time of morning, but Yuuri had a feeling that the silence and solitude wouldn't last very long. Sleep itself was a luxury in times like this, and sleeping in late would be completely unthinkable. And indeed, Yuuri's lonesome trip through the castle halls only lasted a few short minutes.

"I do not recall giving you permission to leave your room."

Yuuri turned and made a small bow to the Maou, who had come up behind him with the practiced silence of one who spent too much time trying not to disturb others or give away her location. "Begging your pardon. Odelia brought me to see Wolfram."

"Now, why would she do a thing like that?" Miriam asked, raising an eyebrow in an incredulous look.

Yuuri shrugged. "She said she trusted me and believed me when I said I was Shibuya Yuuri, the previous Maou. You still don't believe me?"

Miriam snorted. "Gwendal, Yozak, and Greta are too quick to believe you. They're as desperate for a little hope as everyone else in this country. How did you get Odelia to believe you?"

Yuuri wracked his brain, trying to remember just what he had said to Odelia that had changed her mind about him. "What _did_ I say…oh, right, I mentioned Murata and Shouri. The reincarnated Great Sage, and my older brother, respectively."

The Maou tilter her head back a bit and studied Yuuri through heavy-lidded eyes, as though sizing him up in some way he couldn't understand. She began pacing around him, her long black skirt swishing where she let it brush the floor. "Nobody has said those names in your presence since your arrival," she said.

"That's just what Odelia said," Yuuri replied. "That's why she let me go see Wolfram."

Miriam paused, then sighed and dropped her head. "Fine then. Come. You probably want some food, and some information. You've been gone a long time."

"Breakfast would be wonderful," Yuuri agreed, turning to follow his successor down the hall. "But I really just need you to fill me in on the last couple of months here. Wolfram's diary is really detailed."

Miriam came to an abrupt halt and whirled to face Yuuri, eyes blazing. "You _read his diary_?" she hissed.

Yuuri took a step back and held his hands up in a placating gesture. "He was asleep the whole time I was there, and when I told him about it later he said he wasn't angry!"

"Well of course he wouldn't say he was angry, he's been asleep for ages, he wouldn't say anything --"

"No, he woke up just before I left!" Yuuri exclaimed. "We talked for a little while…he recognized me right away!"

The Maou sighed and turned away from Yuuri, once again making her slow way down the hall. "I am with him for hours at a time, and he never opens his eyes. Why did he have to wake up for you?" she muttered bitterly.

"It was an accident," Yuuri said. "Had I left him a moment earlier, or returned to the bedroom a moment after I did, I might have missed it."

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it now I suppose," Miriam said, squaring her shoulders and turning off down a smaller side hallway. "Anyway, you shouldn't go wandering around the castle on your own. You don't know which sections are closed off and which are not. Until you know, you should always have a guide here." She stopped before a simple-looking door and pulled it open before stalking inside, Yuuri on her heels. Gwendal, Yozak, Greta, and the Maou's children were already there.

"Have a good night?" Odelia asked him.

"I had an…informative night," he said. "I spent all night reading Wolfram's diary," he explained when Gwendal raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

Gwendal sighed. "Then you know everything that has been happening here," he said.

"Everything except what's been happening since Wolfram got sick," he said as Idonea set a small plate with a modest helping of food before him.

"Not much that hasn't been happening before he got sick," Odelia said between shoveling mouthfuls of food into her mouth. Her mother shot her a disapproving look because of her behavior, but Odelia ignored it, gulped down some water, and turned back to Yuuri. "Well, there haven't been any new disease cases reported since Father's case," she corrected herself. "But the war is still going on, and we still don't know what happened to Gunter or Conrad or Gisela -- you read about that, right?"

Yuuri nodded. "Wolfram seemed to think they were dead."

"Not much else they could be," Elric said. "I mean, they completely stopped writing, and they've been gone for far too long."

"Hmm…are you certain there's no other possibility?" Yuuri asked. "Like…maybe they were captured or something."

"By whom?" Miriam asked, exasperated. "Look, Yuuri, we've talked this to death here --"

"Well obviously not!" Yuuri exclaimed. "Off the top of my head, I can think of lots of reasons for _anyone_ to capture them, especially since it sounded like they were going to try to sneak across a border!"

Miriam pursed her lips and looked to Gwendal and Yozak for input. Gwendal cleared his throat and threw a quick glance at Miriam. "I plotted their course based on the code words Gunter included in his letters to me. They were indeed headed for our border with Cabalcade."

"I know I wouldn't want to let anyone into my country, if they were coming from a place with an unknown disease like the one we have here," Yozak added.

"Yes, but how close were they when Gunter's letters stopped?" Miriam asked.

"Still quite far away," Gwendal replied, "but assuming that none of them died…they could have made it much farther, perhaps even as far as the border."

Miriam sighed and rested her head in her hands. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Honestly? It never occurred to me. I think being so ill hurt my memory," Gwendal said. Greta, sitting beside him, patted his arm comfortingly.

Yuuri cleared his throat. "The point is, they could still be out there. We need to find out!"

"It's too dangerous to send anyone looking for them," Miriam said.

"Too dangerous for the searchers, or too dangerous for Shin Makoku politically?"

The Maou snorted. "We have no political standing left to damage. If we did, Great Cimaron wouldn't be attacking us and we would still have allies."

"So it's too dangerous for the searchers, then?" Yuuri asked. Miriam nodded grimly. "I'm willing to take the risk. Give me a map, I'll go look for them."

"That's madness!" Greta said.

"Well, maybe. But at least you know I won't get sick on the way. I'm only half-mazoku, remember?"

Gwendal rubbed his temples. "That's not the only problem, Yuuri. What if you are attacked?"

Odelia pounded the table once with her fist. "You really think I'd let anyone near him, Uncle? You have so little faith in me."

"No way in hell am I allowing you to go," Miriam declared, voice shaking. "You're needed here."

"To do what, confound the enemy if they attack? There have been no attacks on this city in months!" Odelia countered. "You'll still have Ahren and Elric if I go. My skills will be more useful to Yuuri."

"I'll go with him as well," Gwendal said softly. "The safe routes have changed since he was last here. He needs a guide."

Miriam bristled. "I need you here too, Gwendal."

He shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, Heika."

"I can order you not to go."

"And I can ignore your order, become an outlaw of my own volition, and go with Yuuri anyway."

Miriam gasped. "You wouldn't."

Gwendal frowned. "I would. Miriam…I'm dying. Slowly, but surely. And it's not the same kind of death that everyone here faces. It's the slow death of a man who has lived out his usefulness, lost the ones he loves the most, and is just waiting for the end." He leaned over and took her hand in his own. "You don't need me, you don't need Gunter, you don't need anyone but yourself to get through this. You just keep telling yourself you need other people. But you're strong, Miriam. You can handle my absence."

"You three will send us regular updates, right?" Ahren asked, eyes fixed on his youngest sister.

"Of course," she said. "I'll work out a code with Yozak tonight."

"I suppose you're all going whether I want you to or not," Miriam said.

Odelia gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Mother."

Miriam sighed, then nodded in resignation. "Then go with my blessing. It's all I can give you. I'm not about to withhold it."


	32. The NoMan's Land

In which Yuuri discovers that living in modern Japan was hardly good preparation for traveling through a war zone in Shin Makoku.

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**Chapter 31: The No-Man's Land**

Yuuri, Gwendal, and Odelia left the castle a couple of hours before sunrise, so that they could get out of the city under cover of darkness but could also take advantage of the daylight hours for traveling. There were no horses for them to take -- all but the ones used by Odelia's subordinates had long since been killed and used for food, and Yozak had asked that Odelia leave all of her horses in his care. Yuuri had balked, arguing that horses would allow them to cover the distance faster, but Gwendal countered by pointing out that it would be hard enough for them to find enough food and clean water for themselves, let alone three horses. In the end, Odelia agreed to leave the animals to Yozak as long as her subordinates retained use of them as needed.

Just before leaving, the three stopped to say goodbye to Wolfram. Much to Odelia's dismay, her father didn't wake up while they were there, and she left the room in tears. Gwendal and Yuuri tactfully pretended not to notice. And then, it was time for them to leave. Miriam, her children, Yozak, and Anissina followed them as far as the front gate of the castle grounds. The trio left in silence, none of them looking back.

They made their way to the outskirts of the city, and Gwendal paused just long enough to get his bearings before taking the lead and directing them towards a mound of earth whose size placed it somewhere between a very large hill and a smallish mountain, which he said they would have to climb and pass over before continuing on their way to the border with Cabalcade. The mountain was farther away than it looked, and it was well after sunrise when they finally made it to the top. Then, and only then, did Yuuri let himself turn and look back at the capital of Shin Makoku.

"My God," he murmured, mouth open in awe.

"What is it?" Odelia asked, jumping to his side and resting her hand on her sword's hilt.

"The city," Yuuri breathed. "I never knew it was so bad…" All throughout the city, huge sections had been burned out and completely destroyed. In other sections, the buildings were crumbling, as though nobody had bothered to tend them in years. Several parts of the city were surrounded by what looked like makeshift military fortifications…though sometimes, it looked more like those fortifications were meant to keep the inhabitants of a given section _in_ than to keep invaders _out_. From here, too, Yuuri could see the remains of the damage that had been done to Blood Pledge Castle during the attempted invasion months ago.

At his side, Odelia nodded, green eyes hardening. "The war came to this city last, but you wouldn't know it just by looking. There's not enough food anymore, because there have been too many bad harvests. I suspect, if we could find medicine for treating the disease, that would be in short supply too. But there isn't a treatment. Prevention is the key, but sometimes that leads to terrible things too, and it doesn't always work anyway." She pointed to the fortifications surrounding parts of the city. "It's one thing when people seclude themselves," she said softly. "It's a whole other matter for people to close off entire sections of a city and not let the inhabitants in or out for any reason. And there's nothing we can do about it, because our military has been severely weakened by this disease."

Yuuri turned and trudged up the hill towards where Gwendal was waiting patiently, Odelia following close behind. "It's only Mazoku who can get sick, right?"

"As far as we can tell."

"So all of those sections of the city are Mazoku neighborhoods?"

Odelia nodded. "Interestingly enough, most of them seem to have been closed off by humans or half-mazoku, but since nothing gets in or out, we can't really tell."

"And the disease has weakened the military so much that nothing can be done?" Yuuri asked. Odelia gave him one curt nod. "I didn't know there were so many Mazoku in the army."

"This is Shin Makoku," Gwendal interjected. "Did you expect us to have an all-human army?"

Odelia chuckled and skipped ahead a bit, disappearing into the trees for a few moments before reappearing and grinning down at them. "It's all downhill from here," she said. "Come on, slowpokes. We'll never make it anywhere near Cabalcade at this rate."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

By the time they settled down for the night, Yuuri was beginning to wonder if it would be possible for him to go back to Earth, find a small airplane and a fuel supply for it, and return with it to Shin Makoku. After all, in a small enough plane they could fly low to the ground (thus facilitating the search for their friends) but they would also go fast enough to cover a lot of ground in a short time.

"I'm so out of shape now," he moaned, leaning against a rock for support.

"Well, you better get in shape," Odelia declared, drawing one of her swords and using it to hack a few medium-sized branched off a nearby tree. "The walking doesn't get any easier from here."

Gwendal let out a low rumbled as he arranged Odelia's hacked branches into a pile in preparation for lighting a fire. "The area we're about to enter is an old war zone," he said softly. "There was a terrible battle there just over a month ago, so it wouldn't have been in Wolfram's diary. They call it the no-man's-land because most of the men who fought in that battle did not make it out alive."

"Who's winning the war?" Yuuri asked.

Gwendal and Odelia both snorted. "Nobody, at this point," Odelia said. "There are those who say Shin Makoku is going to win, but then what? The old fights between the mazoku and non-mazoku will just continue. Nobody's winning this war."

Yuuri nodded sadly, picked up a small stick, and poked at the edge of Gwendal's fire. "Isn't there anything we can do? Anything at all?"

"Well, if we find the cure, we can help put paid to the idea that non-mazoku are responsible for spreading the disease," Odelia mused. "You aren't full mazoku, after all, and it's possible that I'm not either."

The group fell silent and watched the fire crackling before them. Gwendal stirred, reached for his small bag, and pulled out a pencil and the notebook in which he had drawn a map of Shin Makoku (focusing on the area where they were traveling) and the path he thought Gunter and the others had taken. He eyed the map, moving the pencil tip over the path, then pausing and marking a small x before closing his notebook and putting it and the pencil away once more.

Yuuri cleared his throat. "So, let's assume we find this cure, and bring it back, and heal the sick Mazoku…what happens if the war continues then?"

Gwendal and Odelia exchanged a stern look. "Who knows? Odelia said. "Depends on who keeps the war going."

"If the war continues, we won't have to worry about such things for long," Gwendal replied. "It will destroy Shin Makoku."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The entered the no-man's-land the following morning. Odelia and Gwendal plowed ahead, not looking to either side, not saying a word as they methodically chose the best route through the area. Yuuri, unfortunately, didn't have their resolve. He found himself looking back and forth from one scene of carnage to the next. The entire area had been burned out, with only a few ragged weeds struggling to grow in what had once been an extension of the nearby forest. Old weapons, swords and spears and arrows and axes and things Yuuri couldn't identify, stuck up out of the ground -- or out of the many bodies littering the ground.

And all of this made it very difficult for Yuuri to do anything, even the most simple act of placing one foot in front of the other and moving on. He had never much liked violence and gore, had always avoided horror movies and war movies, and had often found himself avoiding news reports of wars back home if the reports included pictures. Wandering through a field of partly- or mostly-decomposed bodies was just too much for him.

"How big is this field?" he moaned at one point, sinking to his knees, covering his mouth with one hand and clutching his violently protesting stomach with the other.

"Depends on how fast you move," Odelia called over her shoulder. "Move quickly and we'll be out of here sooner."

Yuuri struggled to his feet and took a few more steps before falling again, tears threatening to spill from his dark eyes. "I can't…" he groaned. "I'm going to be sick…"

"Is it the smell?" Gwendal asked.

Yuuri shook his head, but didn't dare open his mouth to answer. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on not throwing up, so that he barely heard when Odelia came and knelt beside him. He only looked up when she laid her hand on his shoulder and leaned close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek.

"The things you see are the most troublesome for you, aren't they?" she asked. Yuuri nodded, trying not to look past her face at what lay beyond. "I can help you with that, if you'll let me. Thing is, we have to get through here. There's no other way unless we want to waste a lot of time."

"What are you gonna do, blindfold me?" Yuuri muttered around his hand.

Odelia gave him a wry smile. "Sort of. But you have to trust me to guide you. Do you trust me?" Yuuri nodded. "Good. Get ready."

Yuuri didn't know what he was supposed to get ready for, unfortunately, so when he suddenly went blind, he also fell into a bit of a panic. "Odelia! I can't see, what happened to my eyes?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" her exasperated voice said from beside and slightly above him. "Anyway, nothing happened to your eyes. I just called the darkness down on you…or pushed the light away…something like that. We're not sure how it works, but it's quite useful for confusing enemies. I don't know how long I can hold it, though, so let's get going."

Yuuri gulped, then gripped Odelia's arm and dragged himself to his feet. They stood in place for a moment as Odelia moved his hand from her arm to her belt, and then they were off. Yuuri was certain he was going to stumble many times, but Odelia was quite good at finding clear paths, and they made it across the former battleground in near-record time. But it wasn't quite fast enough.

"Cover your eyes," Odelia gasped as she came to an abrupt halt. Yuuri barely had time to raise a hand to his eyes before the darkness vanished and he was assaulted by a riot of light and color once more.

"Ow," he moaned as the light stabbed into his eyes. He blinked and shook his head vigorously, then looked up to study his surroundings.

They had arrived at the edge of the forest, putting the no-man's-land and the capital beyond it at their backs. Yuuri was standing beside a large tree, and a short ways away Odelia was sagged against a giant boulder, panting and gasping for breath. Her face was a brilliant red and sweat soaked her skin, plastering a few stray strands of hair to her forehead and making dark spots on her tunic.

"You overexerted yourself," Gwendal observed.

"No, you think?" his niece snapped. She closed her eyes and let her head loll to the side so that her cheek rested against the stone. "You better get rid of those delicate sensibilities of yours," she told Yuuri after several long, tense minutes. "I'm not going to do this for you again."

Yuuri nodded, then picked his way over to the boulder and draped Odelia's arm over his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "We should move a little farther into the forest. You can rest better there."


	33. Enemies and Allies

I've been asked if Yuuri and Odelia are going to fall in love. The answer is...maybe. I'm not gonna give away part of the story, after all ;) But if we get to the end of this and you want more of anything, I can quite happily write it. Love in the form of reviews could wind up meaning a sequel in the future, if people want it.

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**Chapter 32: Enemies and Allies**

"We're being followed."

Gwendal hadn't spoken very loudly, but it was more than enough to get his companions' attention. Odelia stopped chewing the berry she had been eating and slowly, carefully twisted around , eyes scanning the dense undergrowth. Yuuri too looked around, but he couldn't see anything much past their camp.

"How close? And how long?" Odelia murmured.

"Not very close, at least not yet," Gwendal told her. "I found signs of them when I went to refill our flasks and followed their tracks almost to the edge of the camp. As for how long…I doubt we picked them up before yesterday. It's been days since we were anywhere near the capital. They're almost certainly not from there."

"Maybe they're just people looking for help," Yuuri suggested. "Maybe they're looking for a way out of Shin Makoku and they think we know one."

Gwendal shook his head. "The tracks I found indicate otherwise, I'm afraid. We could be in danger."

"So what are we going to do?" Yuuri asked.

Odelia turned to him, swallowed her mouthful of berry, and popped another one in her mouth. "We wait until dark," she said. "We'll travel tonight under cover of darkness and hope we lose them."

They quickly ate their fill of the berries they had found, then slunk off to a somewhat more protected area to rest and await nightfall. Yuuri found himself tucked in the V formed by some thick tree roots sticking far out of the ground, with Odelia perched on one root and Gwendal perched on the other, both scanning the forest before them for signs of possible attackers. After waiting around in silence for about half an hour, Yuuri slowly rolled into a crouch and crept to Gwendal's spot. The other man's dark eyes flicked to Yuuri's face for a moment, then he went back to scanning the undergrowth.

"Hey, Gwendal?" Yuuri whispered. "Who do you think is following us?"

Gwendal pondered that in silence for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "There are three possibilities -- Mazoku, non-mazoku, and soldiers from Great Cimaron. I don't think any of Great Cimaron's forces have made it this far, yet, though."

"But why would anyone want to attack us? We're not a danger to anyone."

Gwendal shrugged. "This is a war, Yuuri. We might not be a danger, but we can certainly be used as hostages."

With that sobering thought in mind, Yuuri fell silent one more and went back to huddling in his tree-root hideout.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

A rough slap on his arm jerked him out of his light sleep and he bolted upright. He would have cried out, too, had a small hand not clamped over his mouth to stop him. "Don't shout," Odelia hissed in his ear. "They'll hear you."

"Our trackers are getting closer," Gwendal explained, crouching beside Yuuri and Odelia. "It's just after sunset. We should move, or we risk being caught."

Yuuri nodded and climbed to his feet, setting off behind Gwendal, Odelia walking as close behind him as she could without stepping on his heels. Every so often they would stop and Gwendal would take a moment to listen for any sign that they were being followed, but each time he seemed satisfied that they were alone and would just continue on. Unfortunately, that didn't last for long. In the silence behind them, a twig snapped, and Gwendal came to such an abrupt halt that Yuuri walked right into him. Yuuri had the sense to wrap his arms around the tall Mazoku man rather than letting himself fall and make more noise, and for a long moment he clung tightly to Gwendal. Then Gwendal carefully pushed him back and helped him regain his balance.

"They're onto us," he murmured. "Close by. Odelia, can you --"

"No," she cut him off. "Maybe if there was just one, but if it's more than one I don't have the energy."

"It's more than one. Don't try it, I don't want you to overdo it again. Take Yuuri and go ahead. I'll act as rear guard."

Odelia nodded and grabbed Yuuri's elbow, leading him off into the forest away from Gwendal. They dodged through trees and bushes, varied their pace, doubled back a few times, and even splashed through a couple of puddles they found, all in an effort to shake their pursuers. For a short time, it seemed to work, and Odelia finally brought them to a halt in a particularly dense clump of trees.

"Where's Gwendal?" Yuuri whispered in her ear.

She shook her head and looked around, searching for her uncle over Yuuri's shoulder. For his part, Yuuri studied the area behind Odelia, narrowing his eyes as he watched the dark forest carefully. And then, he saw something that made his blood run cold.

"Odelia, behind you!"

She twisted around and stared hard where Yuuri had been looking, and her green eyes widened in shock. "Are those torches?"

"I think so," he said. "We need to get out of here."

"And go where? We can't leave without Uncle Gwendal."

Yuuri's answer was cut off by the sudden sound of swords clashing nearby. The torches behind Odelia wavered for a moment, then split up and began circling around their position, aiming for the location of the fight. "They're moving," Yuuri muttered.

"Going around," Odelia murmured. "Come on. We have to go back."

"Are you crazy? We'll be killed!"

Odelia stepped away from Yuuri and unsheathed the sword at her hip. "Better dead helping my uncle than dead while hiding like a wimp," she declared. "Do what you want. I'm going to fight." Without so much as a whisper to mark her passing, she vanished into the dark forest.

Yuuri clung to his tree for a moment, eyes darting back and forth between the two lines of bright red-orange spots bobbing and weaving their way towards the place Odelia was heading. The place where, if she was right, Gwendal was engaged in battle with an attacker. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, then darted off after Odelia. She had a point, after all.

Tree branches whipped in his face and caught in his hair as he tore through the forest, eyes darting between searching for Odelia and following the rows of torches. As long as he didn't meet any of them --

-- And then, one of the torch bearers burst from the forest beside him and the two nearly ran into each other. Yuuri dodged out of the way, only to be confronted by the second torch bearer, and then the third. Before long, all four of the men had emerged from the trees around Yuuri and had formed a half-circle at his back, severely limiting his options.

"Well, well, well, what have we hear?" the first asked, waving his torch closer to Yuuri. "Such unusual hair and eyes, even for a Mazoku."

"Is he Mazoku?" the second asked. "I can't tell."

"He's traveling with a known Mazoku and another known to be at least part Mazoku, both members of the Royal Household. I'd say he's at least part Mazoku himself."

The third man shrugged. "Then he's a fair target."

"He's not armed," the fourth pointed out.

It was true. Yuuri had been offered weapons before leaving Blood Pledge Castle, but had refused them all because it had been so long since he had used one. Now, though, he was seriously regretting that decision. "We're on a peaceful mission from the capital," he said, struggling to hide the fear in his voice. "We don't want to hurt anyone. Just let us go and --"

"There's not such thing as a peaceful mission where the Mazoku are concerned," the second man snorted. "Bastards keep blaming us for their troubles."

"As if it's even possible to invent a new disease from scratch," the first added. "And if it was, don't they think we'd have a better target for it than the Mazoku?"

Yuuri tactfully decided not to mention advances in science on Earth or Anissina's penchant for trying knew and crazy ideas. He wouldn't put it past her to try inventing a new disease just to see if she could, should the thought ever cross her mind. "So you must be humans," he said instead.

The men hesitated, exchanging suspicious looks, then their leader shrugged and the others nodded. "I'm half-Mazoku," he said. "But the rest here are human."

"So why don't you try to work with the Mazoku to find a cure?" Yuuri asked, frustrated. "Wouldn't that prove to them that you meant no harm?"

The men laughed. "Like they would accept our help." Off to the left, the sounds of clashing swords and crunching undergrowth drew nearer.

"But they -- we -- would!" Yuuri insisted. "The Maou never wanted this war! She and her family have suffered terribly because of the war and the disease, and she knows her people have too! If we can find the cure, Shin Makoku can be strong again! We can stop Great Cimaron from invading, and we can end all the fighting!"

"Such an idealist," one of the men snorted disparagingly.

The leader narrowed his eyes at Yuuri. "How do you know so much about the Maou? You sound like you know her personally."

Yuuri gulped, mind racing. What was he supposed to say now? Was he supposed to lie? These people weren't stupid. They had identified Gwendal as Mazoku and Odelia as possibly part-Mazoku and as connected to the Royal Family…he was certain that, should these men get a better look at his companions, they would know exactly who Odelia and Gwendal really were. And from the sounds of things, the battle was drawing closer with each passing moment. "I…er…I was engaged to Wolfram von Bielefeld once," he finally said.

The leader took a step back in surprise, and his companions turned curious eyes to him. "You…but the last person engaged to von Bielefeld…no, you're too young to be the last Maou."

Yuuri shook his head. "I'm Yuuri Shibuya, the twenty-seventh Maou of Shin Makoku."

Before the men had a chance to answer, Odelia's body flew into the clearing and smacked into the tree beside Yuuri with a sickening thud. She struggled to regain her breath, then looked up at Yuuri. "Idiot! Why didn't you run?"

"I can't just leave you and Gwendal here! What kind of man do you think I am?" he exclaimed.

"The stupid kind," Odelia grunted, pushing herself to her feet. Her legs shook, and Yuuri was certain she had taken a good blow to the head too. It would be a while before she could move on.

Desperate, he turned to the four men around him. "Listen, I know you don't have much reason to trust us --"

"We don't trust Mazoku," the leader corrected. "We haven't made up our minds about the Maou yet."

"Er, right. Are your friends attacking Gwendal?"

The third man to confront Yuuri shook his head. "It's another group. We heard the commotion as we were passing buy and decided to investigate."

"Then help us get out of here, and we can talk more later. But there won't be any talking at all if Gwendal dies."

The men looked at each other, and one shrugged. "Fine. You two, stay here," their leader said, pointing to two of his companions. "We're going to go help this Gwendal of yours." And with that, he and one of his friends disappeared into the forest, headed for the sounds of battle, while Yuuri went to kneel beside Odelia, who had once again sunk to the ground.

"My father was right about you," she muttered. "You're the wimpiest man I've ever met, and I've met a lot of men."

"If it gets us out of here alive, you have no reason to complain," he replied. "How badly hurt are you?"

She shook her head and winced. "Dunno. I can't stay on my feet for too long."

"Then stay off them. You'll be alright soon enough."

"Depending on what Bodan says, we might be able to take you to our village," one of their guards said.

"Bodan?" Yuuri asked.

The man nodded. "Our leader."

"Ah." Yuuri didn't get a chance to say anything else, though, because their conversation was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the battle in their little clearing. Gwendal and Bodan were side-by-side, struggling to beat back the three hulking brutes attacking Gwendal. Bodan let out a great shout, and four more men burst from the forest behind the attackers, who suddenly found themselves outnumbered and outmatched. Within moments, they were dead.

An uneasy silence descended over the clearing as Gwendal and Odelia exchanged suspicious looks with Bodan and his men. Finally, Bodan cleared his throat and turned to Yuuri. "Well, Highness, you were saying we could talk if we helped your friend…he's been helped. Let's get on with the talking."

Odelia grabbed the back of Yuuri's collar and shook him as violently as she could manage. "You told them who you are?" she shrieked, her tone vividly reminding him of Wolfram at his most irate.

"Well, I thought it was better to be honest," he mumbled, reaching back and disengaging Odelia's hand from his shirt before climbing to his feet once more. "I don't suppose we can go to someplace more comfortable, can we? She needs to rest."

Bodan raised an eyebrow at him. "I helped your friend. Doesn't mean I trust you enough to bring you to my home."

Yuuri sighed. "What do we have to do to convince you?"

"First, you can tell us where you're going."

The former Maou blinked up at Gwendal, who looked very sour at this suggestion but nonetheless gave a curt nod. "We're going to Cabalcade," Yuuri said.

"Cabalcade? What's in Cabalcade?" Bodan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yuuri shrugged. "We won't know until we get there, but some friends of ours left the capital to go there almost two years ago. We're hoping to learn more about them, and find a cure for the disease."

Bodan fell silent for a moment and stroked his chin, then turned to his comrades and had a hurried, whispered conversation with them. Gwendal's hand tightened on the hilt of his still-unsheathed sword, and Yuuri felt Odelia grow tense beside him. Finally, Bodan turned back to them and said, "These friends of yours. How many were there?"

"Three," Gwendal said. "Two men, one woman."

"And this woman, what color was her hair?"

Gwendal's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Green, last time I saw her."

"And the men? What did they look like?" Bodan prompted.

"Tall, slender…one with short brown hair, the other with long lavender hair." Gwendal glowered at them "Why do you ask these things?"

"To confirm your identity and your mission," Bodan said with a shrug. "Anyway, you're welcome to stop by the village for some food and sleep if you want. Those friends of yours were very helpful to us when they passed through, especially the girl. Some kind of medic, I guess -- she healed a bunch of injuries and made some sick kids well. Never did get to repay them enough for that. Well, come on then. The village isn't too far from here." Without waiting for their answer, Bodan motioned for one of his torch-bearing friends to go ahead, then set off for the village. Gwendal and Yuuri helped Odelia to her feet, and followed their surprise benefactor from the clearing.


	34. Real Mazoku Ask For Directions

Nothing like a bit of help to make a trip go more smoothly, as Yuuri and his friends are about to find out. Then again, there's no such thing as an easy trip in Shin Makoku these days...

* * *

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**Chapter 33: Real Mazoku Ask For Directions**

The village proved to be one of the few left relatively untouched by the war and disease in Shin Makoku. Comprised entirely of humans and a few half-mazoku immigrants, there hadn't been anyone there capable of catching the disease. The village was in an out-of-the-way place beyond one of Shin Makoku's thickest forests and was nestled at the foot of a daunting mountain range, giving it protection on all sides. Indeed, aside from the weapons at the ready and the slight sense of extra caution in the air, it seemed as though this place had completely escaped the upheaval of recent years.

That sense was shattered the moment Gwendal, Odelia, and Yuuri sat down to a hearty dinner of bread and stew in Bodan's cottage.

"All three of my sons went off to the war, and all three have yet to return," he said between bites of stew. "My sons-in-law have all gone as well. Most of the families around here have at least one person who went off to fight for one side or another. Do you know the Rutenberg warriors?"

Gwendal nodded. "My brother was the commander of that group. He was here -- the man with brown hair, actually."

Bodan laughed. "Really? Never would've guessed that. He didn't seem like the military type. Anyway, one of my boys wanted to try to get into that unit. He left before your friends arrived, and we haven't heard from him since. We know at least one died, far away from here, but we don't know anything about the battle that killed him."

"I'm very sorry," Gwendal said. Yuuri and Odelia could tell from the tone of his voice that he meant it.

Bodan waved his hand. "Chances are you're not the one who killed him, so it's not your fault. Besides, here in this village, we try not to judge people if we can avoid it. Gotta tell you, though, it's tough not to be angry at the Mazoku who started this. I had a brother and a sister in a couple of villages beyond the capital…they died when some angry Mazoku attacked in the early days of the war. My brother and sister never did anything to hurt anyone. Made me a little bitter."

"That's why we want to find a cure for this," Yuuri said. "We don't want people like your sons or your siblings to die anymore."

"You used to be the Maou?" Bodan asked, giving Yuuri a quizzical look. "You seem kind of naïve for the job. Do you really think that curing the disease will end the war?"

Odelia dropped her spoon and leaned over the table a bit. "Probably not, but it'll take away the Mazoku's reason for fighting the humans and half-Mazoku, won't it? Nothing else is stopping the war."

Bodan shrugged. "Still seems naïve to me, but hey, more power to you for actually doing something about things. That Maou up there in her big shiny castle doesn't know what it's like down here. She hasn't done a thing to stop the war."

"Bodan --" Gwendal began menacingly.

"I mean, it's not like she's lost anyone to the disease or the fighting. Not like her kids have gone off to war, not like her siblings have been killed, not like that at all."

"Bodan --" Yuuri added.

"If you ask me, you Maou types are too protected. Let her lose someone to this fighting and this disease, I say, then she'll truly be our Maou."

Odelia's cup, plate, and silverware clattered to the floor as she swept them from the table in a fit of rage. "Have you been to the castle? Have you met the Maou? You have no _idea_ what goes on up there, do you?"

"Does anyone?" Bodan asked, blinking up at the girl in confusion. "We haven't had news from that damn castle in years. Not since the war started."

"News is hard to spread to places like this in a war," Gwendal said, laying a calming hand on Odelia's arm. "However, my niece has a good reason to be upset. Her grandmother died from the disease. I almost died from it. And as we speak, her father lies dying as well." He fixed Bodan with a searing look and continued, "Did I mention that Odelia is the Princess, youngest daughter of the Maou Miriam? Just because the Maou doesn't suffer publicly doesn't mean she doesn't suffer, and just because no visible solutions are coming from the castle doesn't mean we aren't doing what we can to fix things."

Bodan sighed. "I'm sorry. I should know better than that. But wow…I can't believe the Maou is letter her daughter and her brother-in-law go on this mission, let alone the former Maou."

"We don't have much choice," Gwendal said. "The other brother-in-law, the royal aide, and the aide's daughter were already sent, and have already gone missing."

Their host frowned, chewing his food thoughtfully, letting his eyes go unfocused. "Well, here's the question, then -- do you want to take the same path they did, or do you want to get to Cabalcade faster?"

"We have a choice?" Yuuri asked.

Bodan nodded. "We sent them on a kind of roundabout way, because they said they didn't want to take an easy-to-track path. We can send you that way too, or we can send you the quicker and easier way."

"Isn't that kind of the point in trying to follow their path?" Odelia murmured to Yuuri and her uncle. "So we could have a chance of finding them along the way?"

"Yes, I know," Gwendal replied. "We should try to follow their path as much as possible."

"That's easy enough," Bodan said. "Listen. You three sleep here tonight, and in the morning, we'll send you off the same way we sent them. We'll give you some provisions, too. You might need them."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Here," Bodan said the following morning, as Gwendal, Yuuri, and Odelia hefted their new packs full of provisions onto their backs. "I drew a map for you."

Gwendal raised an eyebrow at the map. "Are you certain that's the way they went?"

"Well, we can only be sure until here," Bodan replied, pointing to a spot on the map. "That's where our guide left them. But based on what they said, we're guessing they followed this path or something like it the rest of the way."

Gwendal's eye twitched. "You think?"

"Oh come on, Uncle Gwen," Odelia said. "Another map won't hurt. Remember, real Mazoku ask for directions." She took the map from Bodan's hand and studied it, then gave him a quick bow, patted Gwendal's shoulder, and set off on the path it indicated.

Gwendal frowned at her, then sighed and turned his attention back to Bodan. "Thank you for your help," he said. "You and your village will be remembered." He watched while Yuuri shook hands with their host, and then they both set off after Odelia.

The path Bodan had drawn for them turned out to be somewhat treacherous, though Gwendal suspected that some of the rougher areas along the path hadn't always been so difficult to navigate. The trio wound their way partway up the side of a mountain, then followed an old footpath a good distance until it began a gradual descent into a valley a few days' journey from Bodan's village. They stopped to get some water from a murky stream (Yuuri insisted on boiling the water before drinking it) and Gwendal took the opportunity to supplement their dried meat rations with some fresh fish. The path followed the edge of the river until the end of the valley, and then disappeared into a forest that, though thick, wasn't nearly as thick as the last one had been. It also appeared to be quite far from civilization, and Yuuri was once again struck by the feeling that the disease and the war hadn't really touched this area.

"This wouldn't be such a bad place to live," he said as they settled down to rest that night.

"No, it wouldn't," Odelia murmured. "Wonder if I can manage to make one of my brothers Maou instead of me…I'd prefer living in a place like this to living in the castle, especially given all that's happened there."

Gwendal tilted his head back and studied the evening sky through the leaves and branches overhead. "Places like this have their difficulties too," he mused.

"What, you mean you would never even consider living in a place like this?" Odelia asked as she arranged some wood for a fire.

Her uncle was silent for so long that Yuuri and Odelia thought he would never answer. Then he said, "Perhaps, someday, if we find Gunter and Gisela and Conrad again…this isn't the kind of place to be completely alone."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

They noticed that the leaves on the trees were changing color the same day that they came to the general area from which Gunter had sent his last letter. They spent much of the next few days searching the area in vain for any signs of Gunter, Conrad, or Gisela. But there was nothing. They set off again, once more angling for the border with Cabalcade, Gwendal spending much of the journey in a moody silence.

And then, without any warning at all, the border was upon them, easily identifiable by the garrison standing guard over the spot. They had only journeyed four days from the spot where the last letter had been written and sent, and Gwendal instantly became suspicious. "This cannot be right, we shouldn't be here yet," he whispered, hunkered down behind a rock with Yuuri and Odelia flanking him. "Is Cabalcade trying to invade us as well?"

Odelia reached into her uncle's pack and fished around until she found the maps. She unfolded them and studied them closely, then pointed to something. "No, we've overestimated the distance between the border and the capital," she said. "See how it dips down here? This must be where we are."

"We can't get through here, the guards will see us," Yuuri said. "Can we cross somewhere else?"

"I don't know," Odelia said. "But I can find out. If I'm not back in half an hour, something went wrong and I need rescuing." And with that, she took off into the woods, trotting along within site of her companions for a moment before delving deeper into the trees. Yuuri and Gwendal settled in to wait.

Odelia returned about twenty minutes later, looking rather annoyed. "It's no use. They have guards patrolling the border between garrisons, and there's a second garrison not that far from here. I assume it's like that all along the border."

"I wonder what's going on?" Yuuri mused. "Cabalcade is our friend."

"Used to be our friend," Gwendal corrected. "Though, it is possible they still consider us allies…many of our former allies abandoned us when things took a turn for the worst, and we lost communication with Cabalcade a long time ago."

Yuuri pondered that for a moment, then nodded. "Well, sneaking in is out of the question. Let's just go ask for permission to enter." Before Gwendal or Odelia could even process his words, Yuuri bounded over the rock and headed right for the garrison.

"Idiot!" Odelia hissed. "He's going to get himself killed!" And with that, she too jumped over the rock and scrambled after Yuuri. Gwendal watched them, gritting his teeth, then, grumbling the whole way, rounded the rock and reluctantly followed them as well.

"Oi! You there!" Yuuri shouted to what appeared to be the head guard. The man looked up from the conversation he had been having with a comrade, barked a few orders Yuuri was too far away to hear, and grabbed a long spear, which he pointed right at Yuuri. Almost instantly, Yuuri found dozens more spears pointing at him and he fell under the eyes of several archers spanning the garrison walls. He stopped, looked around, and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "It's alright! I'm not anybody suspicious or anything! We just want to get into Cabalcade, that's all!"

"Must be more refugees, sir," one of the soldiers said into the ensuing uneasy silence.

"I doubt it. The girl in particular looks too well-dressed to be a refugee," the commander replied. He took a few steps towards Yuuri and jabbed his spear menacingly at the spot in front of his chest. "State your name and business!"

"Yuuri Shibuya, looking for some friends and for some medicine." Odelia appeared at his side at that moment, panting and glaring and once again reminding Yuuri of her father. "This is Odelia, one of my traveling partners, and Gwendal there is the other one."

Silence. Then, from somewhere in the back of the ranks staring them down, "Did he just say Yuuri Shibuya?"

"And Odelia? Isn't that the name of one of Shin Makoku's Princesses?"

"Gwendal sounds familiar too!"

"All of you shut up, and one of you get Her Excellency and bring her here!" the commander snapped. He turned his attention back to Yuuri and gave his spear another thrust. "Never thought I'd see the day when a rag-tag bunch like you three would impersonate a former Maou and members of the current royal family to get through our border. We don't let just anyone through, you know, not in dangerous times like these. Who knows if you three are carrying the disease --"

"Yuuri's only half-Mazoku, so he can't be carrying it," a woman's voice said from behind the commander. The man snapped to attention and spun aside, giving Yuuri a good view of the speaker. She was tall and regal, about Greta's age, with shoulder-length blonde hair just beginning to go gray and stunning eyes that reminded him of tropical oceans. "That is, assuming this man is really Yuuri."

Yuuri gawked at her for a moment, then said, "Beatrice? Is that you? Is your father the ruler of Cabalcade now?"

Beatrice raised an eyebrow at Yuuri and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe. What other proof of your identity than knowledge of my name do you offer?"

"Umm…" Yuuri blinked, beginning to sweat. Odelia stepped forward, pulled a small wooden tube from her belt, and tossed it to Beatrice.

"I am Odelia von Bielefeld, Princess of Shin Makoku, daughter of Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld and the Maou Miriam. I think you'll find that my papers are in order, Lady Beatrice."

"Should I have papers too?" Yuuri murmured.

"Mmm, well, probably, but Gwendal and I should be able to cover for you," she replied.

Beatrice pulled a scroll from the wooden tube and read it carefully, examining every inch of it and running her fingers over the seals at the bottom of each sheet. Finally, she re-rolled the scroll, tucked it into the tube, and stepped forward to hand it back to Odelia. "I'll take you to the Palace, where you can meet with my father. But I warn you -- we don't trust anyone these days. Make no false moves. Our soldiers have been trained to fight first and ask questions later. Come now. We'll be ready to leave for the Palace within the hour."


	35. Reunions

Somewhere between waking up this morning and coming home from school today, this thing made it over 8000 hits. I wonder, can we make 10,000 before it's over?

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**Chapter 34: Reunions**

Yuuri twisted his head this way and that as they traveled through Cabalcade, headed for the capital. His first order of business was to ignore the pain in his rump -- it had been a very long time since he had ridden a horse, though he was indeed grateful that the people at the garrison had seen fit to give him, Gwendal, and Odelia horses for this part of their journey. It was going to save them a lot of time. Not that they had any particular need to save time at this point. Yuuri would have been quite content to travel through this area at a nice, leisurely pace. His second order of business, though, was to get more information if he could, and there was only one person with them who might be willing to give it to him.

"Hey," he said to his guard, riding beside him on another horse, "is there any chance I can talk with Lady Beatrice?"

The guard glanced at him, then relayed the question to a second guard, who spurred his horse into a quick trot and headed to the front of the group, where Beatrice and her personal entourage traveled. He had a brief exchange with Beatrice herself, then trotted back to his companion. He gave a single, brief nod, and Yuuri's guard grunted. "Apparently she said yes," he told Yuuri. "I'll go with you." He took the reigns of Yuuri's horse and led him to Beatrice.

"Are you pleased to visit Cabalcade again, Yuuri?" she asked as he and his guard arrived at her side.

"Very pleased," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing your father again." They rode in silence for a moment, then Yuuri said, "Cabalcade seems so peaceful, like the war and sickness in Shin Makoku haven't touched it at all."

Beatrice nodded. "They've touched here, but only briefly. We don't have too many Mazoku here, and most of the refugees who try to cross our border are humans or half-Mazoku anyway." Her lips twitched as she pondered what to say next. "The problem is, Yuuri…Cabalcade looks very prosperous, but since trade relations broke down with Shin Makoku, we've had to be very careful to maintain that prosperity. We can't take as many refugees as we would like. That's why the border garrisons have been built -- so we can have some control over the numbers coming in."

Yuuri nodded and looked around sadly, taking in his surroundings and trying to digest this news at the same time. "When did you build the garrisons?"

"About three years ago. Before then, we only had a trickle of refugees and asylum seekers -- no more than the usual number of immigrants each year, really."

"Oh," he said. Well, that wasn't good. Surely Beatrice would have mentioned Gunter and the others making it through their garrisons. Yuuri threw a quick glance over his shoulder at Gwendal and Odelia, riding in stony silence near the back of the group. He didn't want to think about what would happen when they discovered that Gunter, Gisela, and Conrad hadn't even made it to Cabalcade's border. "Beatrice --"

"Up ahead!" one of the forward scouts shouted. Everyone looked up to see what he was shouting about. There, through the trees before them, a white spire reached for the sky and shimmered in the sunlight.

"Not much farther now," Beatrice said. "I'll send someone ahead to make sure dinner is ready for us. You should go back to your place." Before Yuuri could get another word in, his guard had wheeled both horses around and was trotting back to the other two prisoners.

"What did she say?" Odelia hissed as Yuuri resumed his place beside her. But he just shook his head and pursed his lips. They would find out soon enough.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The sun was just setting as Beatrice, Yuuri, Gwendal, Odelia, and the various guards and aides traveling with them finally made it through the gates of Cabalcade's palace. A second group of guards, plus a few servants, had gathered to greet them and take the horses to the stables for a good rub-down and a meal. Beatrice motioned for Yuuri and the others to follow her, and she led them inside the palace to the throne room.

"The Palace hasn't changed much since I was last here," Yuuri commented.

Beatrice's eyes darted to him. "That was a long time ago. How do you remember the details?"

Yuuri gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, only ten years have passed on Earth. That's why I haven't aged so much, either."

"Why didn't you come back sooner?"

"I couldn't. Neither could Murata -- did you ever meet him? He was the Great Sage of Shin Makoku."

Beatrice shook her head. "I don't recall. Fifty years have passed here, after all, and my memory isn't as sharp as yours," she added dryly. They arrived at the entrance to the throne room moments later, and she turned to Gwendal and Odelia. "Let me have your papers. My father needs to examine them."

The pair handed their papers over, Gwendal more willingly than Odelia, and Beatrice signaled the guards to open the door. The small group marched inside, and Yuuri braced himself for the greeting of flashing bald heads he was sure would follow, but it never came. He wasn't the only one who noticed -- beside him, Odelia crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled something about rude rulers.

Hristo Cryff, Beatrice's father and the king of Cabalcade, watched them with great interest. "Well now, this is a surprise. Wherever did you find them, Beatrice?"

"At the border. They were trying to get in, Father." She climbed the short steps to his throne and handed him Gwendal's and Odelia's papers. "Two of them have these. The third claims to be Yuuri Shibuya, but doesn't have any papers of his own."

Hristo Cryff took the wooden tubes from his daughter, removed the scrolls they contained, and read through them carefully. "These are genuine," he said. "And I have no reason to believe that Gwendal von Voltaire or Odelia von Bielefeld would willingly travel with an impostor. I have to wonder, though," he added, looking up at them, "just how bad are things in Shin Makoku if the former Maou and two members of the Royal Family are trying to escape?"

"We're not trying to escape, we're trying to find help," Odelia declared. "And we're looking for information."

"Information? On what?"

Gwendal laid a calming hand on Odelia's shoulder. "About two years ago, three others set out from Blood Pledge Castle in the hopes of finding a cure for the disease spreading through Shin Makoku. We…we eventually lost contact with them. They are presumed dead."

Hristo Cryff nodded. "I see. I think I can help you with one of your missions. Beatrice, if you would be so kind?" The woman nodded and left the gathering, heading for another area of the castle. "Now, tell me more about the disease, and the war. News doesn't get in or out of Shin Makoku easily these days."

"The disease continues to only effect Mazoku," Gwendal said. "Humans and half-Mazoku remain untouched. We do not yet know how it spreads, how it is carried, or any of the factors determining where and when new cases will appear." He hesitated, then said, "My youngest brother, Wolfram, fell ill recently. Of course we hope he survives, but…it doesn't look good."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Hristo Cryff said. "What of the war? Any signs of it abating?"

Gwendal shook his head. "It is a three-way war, now. You heard that Great Cimaron has gotten involved, I presume?"

"Yes, I had heard that. Our last guest from Great Cimaron got drunk and took to boasting about his peoples' exploits in your land," Hristo Cryff said grimly. "We threw him out of the palace and had him brought home immediately, with strict orders to never set foot in Cabalcade ever again."

"Pleased to hear that," Gwendal said. "Shin Makoku counts Cabalcade among its strongest allies."

"So, about this cure you wish to find, what exactly are you looking for?"

Gwendal shook his head. "We don't really know. But it is desperately needed. A cure for the disease would remove the primary justification for the war between Mazoku and non-Mazoku."

Hristo Cryff rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but he didn't get a chance to answer before one of the many doors into the throne room opened once more. He glanced up, then smiled. "Ah, here we are. My friends, look who we just found wandering around our borders."

Yuuri and the others began to turn where Hristo Cryff was looking, but before they had finished, a great cry of joy and surprise tore through the room. "Gwendal! Oh, Gwendal!"

"Gunter?" the other man breathed. Within moments, the lavender-haired man flew across the room and launched himself into Gwendal's arms, burying his face against Gwendal's shoulder and sobbing.

"Oh Gwendal, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again! They wouldn't let us leave here, and after none of my letters were answered --"

"What letters?" Odelia asked, frowning up at him. "We never got anything from you after those last crazy ones."

Gunter lifted his head from Gwendal's shoulder and blinked at her. "I sent you many letters after arriving here, Princess."

"They must have been intercepted, along with all the other attempts at communicating with Shin Makoku," Conrad's voice said. He and Gisela appeared beside Gunter moments later. "It's good to see you again, brother," he said to Gwendal. "And you, Odelia. And you…Yuuri?"

Yuuri stared up at Conrad in awe. "Conrad…"

Conrad's hair was sprinkled with gray and his face bore more wrinkles (Yuuri decided he liked the little crow's feet that appeared in the corners of Conrad's eyes when he smiled), but he hadn't changed that much. Apparently not falling ill and winding up in the relative peace of Cabalcade had been good for him. Gunter hadn't changed much, either -- aside from a pure-white lock of hair over his eyes, he looked and sounded just as Yuuri remembered him. Gisela had changed the least of all, though. In fact, were it not for the fact that she was wearing the first dress Yuuri had ever seen her wear, he would have been hard pressed to pick out something different about her.

"Yuuri!" Gunter exclaimed, detaching from Gwendal flinging himself at the former Maou. "Oh Heika, you've been gone for so long! You look so good! When did you arrive? How did you come back? Why didn't you come back before?"

Conrad laughed. "Easy, Gunter! One question at a time!"

"Aren't you curious, Conrad?" Gunter asked. "It's been fifty years."

"Of course I'm curious, but drowning Yuuri with questions won't get us our answers."

Yuuri coughed, and Gunter let him go. "It's only been ten years on Earth," he began, wondering if he should start wearing a sign saying that. Repeating it every time he met someone he knew was getting annoying. "I got back…when did I get back?"

"Not that long ago. A little over a month, at most," Odelia said.

"Right, thank you. I came back through the fountain at Shinou's Temple…but I don't know why I couldn't come back before. It's strange. All the times I tried before didn't work, but then a few years after I finally gave up, I fell in a puddle and wound up back in Shin Makoku."

"Have you been to the castle?" Gisela asked. Yuuri nodded. "How is it there?"

Gwendal cleared his throat. "There was a battle. The castle walls were breached, and part of the barracks were burned down. Not too many casualties on our side, though. But right now…Wolfram has fallen ill."

A brittle silence fell over the throne room, and Yuuri noticed a sudden hardness in Conrad's eyes, "Miriam must not be taking that well."

"No, not at all," Gwendal said. "But it has made the need for a cure that much more urgent."

"We haven't found anything here," Gisela said.

"But we should return to the castle," Conrad added. "Miriam needs us."

"Why wouldn't you let them leave before?" Odelia asked Hristo Cryff, motioning to the others.

He gave her a small bow. "When they received no answers to their letters, I suggested that they stay here rather than return to a potentially deadly situation. We had no idea what had happened to the castle and its inhabitants, after all."

"We've been searching for a cure all this time," Gisela said. "But we can't even figure out what causes the disease, let alone how to cure it…"

"There's no question about it now," Gunter said firmly. "We must return to Blood Pledge Castle, as soon as possible, whether we have the cure or not."

"Agreed," Conrad said. "How tired are you three?" he added, turning to Gwendal, Yuuri, and Odelia. "We can leave tomorrow, if you're ready."

Yuuri wilted a bit, and Odelia sighed. "Are we going to be walking again?" she asked.

Conrad turned to Hristo Cryff and raised an eyebrow. "We can give you transportation," the king said. "Your return to Shin Makoku is urgently needed, after all."

"You realize it's highly unlikely that any horses you give us will come back," Gwendal pointed out. "We're rather low on food for them in Shin Makoku -- and for ourselves."

"I understand. Consider them a gift. Now, let's have dinner, and get some warm baths for you three. You can leave in the morning."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

They set off late the next morning, after a nice breakfast with Hristo Cryff and Beatrice. The king, Gunter, and Gwendal spent a while planning their journey, mapping out a path along some old back roads that would get them back to the Shin Makoku capital quickly but would still keep them away from prying eyes and possible attackers. They took a detour through Bodan's village to let their friend know that all was well (he was quite happy to see them again) and then took the straightest path possible back to the castle.

That was the plan, anyway.

They were just two days away from the capital when Conrad noticed something rather suspicious. "Is it just me, or is the ground by this riverbank rather more disturbed than normal?" he asked when they stopped beside a river for a drink.

Gwendal crouched beside his brother and stared at the muddy ground. "A military unit passed through here," he said. "And it looks like they are rather heavily armed and armored, as well.

"Are any of the Mazoku or human groups that well armed?" Yuuri asked.

Gwendal shook his head. "This must be the work of Great Cimaron."

"They've never made it this far before, though," Odelia said.

"Not to our knowledge, anyway," Gwendal answered. He examined the ground further. "I don't think there were that many of them. Five, maybe six or seven at the most. What would such a small group be doing here?"

"What's this?" Gunter piped up from closer to their resting spot. The group by the river turned to see him holding up a narrow glass vial. A small drop of thick, clear yellow liquid clung to the inside, jiggling a bit but otherwise not moving when he shook the vial. There was no cap on it.

"Good question," Gwendal replied, frowning at the vial.

Gisela raised her head from where she had been poking around beside a bush. "Here's another one." The droplets inside her vial were smaller and had hardened, sparkling like jewels in the afternoon sun.

"How long ago would you say Great Cimaron's soldiers were here?" Conrad asked Gwendal.

"Quite recently. Do you think they are connected to these vials?" Gwendal replied.

"How else could these have gotten here?" Conrad countered. "Unless things like this are being made regularly in Shin Makoku these days…"

Gwendal shook his head. "Not to my knowledge. We should bring these back to the castle and see if Anissina can learn anything about them. And we shouldn't stay here any longer than we need to. Come."


	36. Secrets and Lies

**Chapter 35: Secrets and Lies**

Throughout the next day and a half of their journey, a sense of uneasiness hung over the group. Gunter had taken both of their vials, wrapped them carefully in his extra shirt, and tucked them into his travel pack for safe keeping. But though everyone had a very bad feeling about the vials and the little yellow drops inside them, the sense of unease came from somewhere else. The closer they got to the city, the worse the feeling became until, when they were just a short ride from the city walls, Yuuri couldn't take it anymore.

Yuuri nudged his horse into a trot to catch up with Gwendal and Conrad, where were leading the way and chatting quietly amongst themselves. "Gwendal, Conrad…do you feel like we're being watched?" he said as softly as he could without being drowned out by the horses' hooves.

Gwendal nodded and turned his piercing eyes to the nearby forest. "I've felt it since we left the river," he replied. "I was hoping it was a mistake, or merely an animal, and that if we just paid it no mind it would go away."

"Well, a group like ours hasn't been seen traveling like this in a long time, I would imagine," Conrad said. "We're bound to attract some attention. No sense getting worked up about it."

"Except that Yuuri, Odelia, and I were followed through part of the forest and attacked on our way to Cabalcade," Gwendal said grimly. "And in all honesty, we never did learn the identities of our attackers…"

Odelia came trotting up beside them then, eyes wild with fear and her horse looking about ready to bolt. "We have to move, now."

"Why?" Yuuri asked.

"We're being followed. Uncle, I _told_ you we shouldn't have bothered circling around the no-man's-land --"

Anything else she might have said and any reply the obviously irate Gwendal might have made were cut off by the whiz of an arrow through the air and its subsequent hard thump into the trunk of a nearby tree. Odelia's horse reared and she lost her balance, tumbling to the ground as the horse shot off into the forest. Odelia scrambled to her feet, ignoring the leaves and twigs in her hair and clinging to her clothes, drawing her sword and whirling to face the direction the arrow had come from.

"It's Great Cimaron!" Gunter shouted, kicking his horse into a gallop and racing towards them, Gisela at his heels. Behind them, the well-fed, well-rested, heavily-armed and armored troop of soldiers appeared from the trees, crashing after them. One got close enough to Gunter to smash his mace into the horse's hind leg with a sickening crack. The horse whinnied in pain and toppled over, taking Gunter with it. Gunter was quick enough to roll out of the way to avoid being crushed, and his sword appeared in his hands as if by magic. Conrad and Gwendal circled around to come to their friend's aide, while Gisela rushed the attackers from behind.

"Odelia!" Conrad shouted. "Get the vials and go with Yuuri to the city!"

She didn't say a word, instead scrambling to her feet and racing across the open patch of ground between herself and Gunter's still-downed horse. A few steps away, she took a flying leap and wound up sprawled beside the horse, it's body shielding her from most of the attackers. Odelia reached up and began fiddling with the straps on Gunter's bag, struggling to get them open, then sliding her hand inside to grab the small bundle. She yanked her hand out just in time -- a moment later, and her hand would have impaled on the knife one of the attackers thrust through the bag. She looked up at the man, who had apparently managed to beat Gisela back enough to get past her, and glared at his craggy face. "These are not yours!" she shouted, and in one smooth motion she drew the sword strapped to her back and brought the blade down on the man's shoulder, slicing a good way into his torso before yanking her blade free and scrambling back towards Yuuri and his frantic horse.

"Hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!" Yuuri chanted, stretching out a hand for Odelia. Odelia grabbed his hand and jumped, hauling herself up behind him. She hooked her arm over his shoulder and pressed the shirt-wrapped vials against his chest, sheathing her sword with her free hand and then clinging to Yuuri's shoulder.

"Make for the city!" she shouted to him over the din of battle going on behind them.

Yuuri struggled with the horse's reigns for a moment, then convinced the animal to wheel around and gallop in the right direction. Odelia twisted around just long enough to look back at the battle. Gunter, Gwendal, and Conrad were engaged in heated battles with their chosen adversaries. Gisela too was doing her best to defend herself, but as Odelia watched, the green-haired medic was tossed against a tree like a doll and didn't move again. Her attacker watched her for a second, then turned his attention to chasing the escaping Princess and former Maou

"Are they following us?" Yuuri asked tensely.

"One is now," Odelia said. "But on foot"

"Well, that's not so bad, our horse can outrun him," Yuuri said. He nudged the horse once more, urging it to an even faster speed, and they shot off towards the city walls.

"You could go faster without me," Odelia muttered in his ear.

Yuuri twisted his head to look at her for a second. "What, and leave you behind?"

She let out a cold, humorless laugh that sent a shiver down his spine. "Have you forgotten what I can do, Yuuri? Here," she added, using both hands to tear Yuuri's shirt open one button further and then stuffing the small bundle inside, where it wouldn't fall out. "See you at the castle." And suddenly, she was gone, leaping from her spot behind Yuuri and rolling away, something Yuuri had always thought only happened in movies. Then again, Odelia was at least part-Mazoku. She was made of sterner stuff than the average human. Yuuri took one final look at the scene rapidly vanishing behind him, just long enough to see a slightly dazed Odelia climbing to her feet and drawing both swords to face down…did he really see two of their attackers? That meant one of them had gotten past Gunter, Gwendal, and Conrad. Not good.

Yuuri shot through the city gates and up the main street, headed straight for the castle. As he approached, he caught a glimpse of two guards standing watch at the castle gates, which were closed. "Open the gates! Open the damn gates before we crash!" he shouted frantically. The guards blinked at him for a moment, then scrambled to obey, managing to open the gates just far enough to admit the galloping horse and it's barely-in-control rider just as they arrived. Yuuri did his best to bring the foaming and exhausted animal to a halt, sliding off its back and into the arms of a waiting guard. "Where's the Maou, and Anissina?" he asked. "This is urgent!"

"I'll get them!" one guard said, and raced off into the castle. Yuuri turned to the other, eyes wide with terror.

"You have to send every soldier you can to the forest," he said. "We were attacked on the way back, and I don't think the fight is going so well. Gisela's hurt…and Odelia's trying to face down two armored guys on her own --"

"I'll send the Rutenbergs to help," Yozak said, appearing from the castle entrance and trotting towards Yuuri. He waved his hand at the guard following him, and the other man went of to prepare the famous unit for battle. "Did you find a cure?"

Yuuri shook his head and pulled the wrapped vials from his shirt, holding the bundle up. "No, but we found this by the river a day or so ago. We need Anissina to examine it and tell us what it is." Over Yozak's shoulder, Yuuri saw a flash of pink bobbing towards him -- looked like he was going to get Anissina to examine the vials sooner than later. A darker, shorter figure followed close behind.

Yozak too glanced over his shoulder. "Well, she's here now, and so is the Maou. I'm going with my men. Don't worry, Yuuri, we'll be back in time for dinner." And with that, he was off, leaving Yuuri to the scientist and the Maou.

"What happened?" Miriam asked.

"A lot. No time to tell you everything, we need Anissina to tell us what these are." Yuuri knelt and carefully unwrapped the vials, holding them up for the scientist to inspect.

"Glass vials," she said simply.

"Right, but what's that yellow stuff in them?"

Anissina took one of the vials and held it up to the light, frowning as she studied it. "This needs to be examined in my laboratory," she said. "Where did you find it?"

"By the river, not long before we were attacked."

Miriam gave him a sharp look. "Attacked? By whom?"

Yuuri shrugged. "They're big, they have a lot of weapons, and they have armor. Gwendal thinks they're from Great Cimaron."

"Does he think they're connected with those vials?"

"I…don't really know," Yuuri said. "We found a disturbed patch of ground near the river, and the vials were nearby. So…maybe?"

Miriam sighed. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now." She snorted and gave Yuuri a wry smile as Anissina disappeared into the castle once more. "Was it like this for you as Maou? Lots of sitting around and waiting for something to happen, punctuated by periods of sheer terror and wishing it would all be over quickly so you could go back to sitting around and waiting?"

He nodded. "That sounds about right, though Wolfram usually kept me busy." He paused, then added, "Speaking of, how is he? Is he…you know…?"

"He lives. He struggles. The von Bielefeld family isn't known for just giving up, after all," she said. "But I'm afraid. If he doesn't get better soon, I fear losing him."

Yuuri gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, and they settled in to wait, eyes fixed on the palace gates. They had been there for perhaps forty-five minutes, standing in silence, when the sounds of returning soldiers reached their ears. They rushed forward to the gate to get a look at the approaching party.

Gwendal and Gunter led the way, both looking tired and leaning on each other for support, but with no sign of any injuries worse than a bad scratch. Gisela was perched on the back of the one horse in the group, supported by one of Yozak's soldiers. She looked rather dazed, and Yuuri suspected she had taken quite a blow to the head when she was tossed into the tree. Then came the soldiers who had attacked them, weapons and armor removed, hands tied behind their backs, surrounded by a ring of guards. Conrad, Yozak, and Odelia followed behind them. Odelia was leaning against Yozak and clutching her side, but every so often she got up the strength to poke her sheathed sword at any attacker who was moving too slowly for her taste. Conrad gave her a disapproving look each time she did, but if she noticed she chose to ignore it. Yuuri and Miriam stepped aside to let them pass, but it seemed that Odelia had other plans. The moment she saw her mother, she pulled away from Yozak and shouted for everyone to stop. The party halted, all eyes turning to the Princess.

She pulled her hand away from her side long enough to step into the circle of guards and haul one of the attackers out of the group, pushing him to his knees before Miriam, unsheathing her sword, and letting the sharp tip rest against his back. He stiffened, eyes filled with fear.

"Can he see?" Miriam asked.

"Oh yes," her daughter replied. "I wanted him to see the damage filth like him have caused our city."

Miriam studied the man, who had started shaking from fright. "Now, really, Odelia, I know he and his comrades attacked you, but --"

"Tell her what you were doing by the river," Odelia ordered the man, giving him a swift but shallow poke with her sword. The movement hurt her injury and she winced, once more pressing her hand to her side. "Tell her what you and your friends were doing so close to our city."

"I…I…we are soldiers from Great Cimaron!" he declared, voice a good octave higher than it should have been. "Our king sent us to ensure our victory in the war!"

"But there's more than that, isn't there?" Odelia declared. "You've been to Shin Makoku before, haven't you?"

"Yes! Many times!"

"And why were you here all those times?"

He gulped, eyes darting between Yuuri and Miriam. He didn't dare turn to face Odelia. "He…we…he sent us to…to…to make the Mazoku sick."

Miriam raised her eyebrow. "To make the Mazoku sick? That's a difficult task."

"It is. But h-h-he gave us th-th-the materials himself! Designed in his private laboratories!" The man was sweating now, and he looked distinctly ill.

"Designed in his own laboratories?" Yuuri repeated.

"Yes. To be put…in…put in the food and…and the water!"

Miriam's eyes and mouth hardened, and she looked up at Odelia and the others. "The vials?" Odelia nodded.

"We were just doing our job!" the soldier wailed. "We didn't have a choice!"

"Oh, you had a choice," Miriam spat. "You always have a choice. You could have refused to do that and come to me for help. We would have sheltered you. But no -- your actions have brought death to hundreds, even thousands, of innocent people in Shin Makoku. Yozak!" The orange-haired soldier stepped forward and gave her a quick salute. "Take them to the dungeons. I'll deal with them later. We need to get this information to Anissina."


	37. Alliance Rebuilding

With everyone together again, it's time to turn the tables on their enemies...

* * *

**Chapter 36: Alliance Re-building**

"So all this time you three were at the court in Cabalcade, trying to send messages here?" Miriam asked Gunter, Conrad, and Gisela over dinner that night. They nodded. "Well, why didn't they send us help?"

"They didn't know what to do," Gunter said. "And since our messages to you went unanswered…"

Gisela set her spoon down and took a sip of water. "I think Hristo Cryff was worried about making things worse if he sent his armies into Shin Makoku without your express permission."

"Hmm," Miriam replied, eyes fixed on Gisela's water glass, fist clenched in anger. As usual for much of the past couple of years, there was very little food on the table. Tonight's dinner consisted of water and bowls of thin porridge. But this was poor even by the standards of recent days. It wasn't so much that they didn't have the resources to put on a somewhat bigger, more well-rounded dinner. It was that this was the only thing Ilaria and Idonea could throw together on the short notice they had been given.

After hearing what Great Cimaron's soldiers had had to say, Anissina, already running several tests on the vials and their contents, decided to perform one more. She had discovered that the yellow liquid was a potent, concentrated poison that, taken in large enough quantities, could kill a Mazoku man almost instantly. But taken in smaller doses, especially when mixed with other ingredients, it would act much more slowly and make you sick. Anissina hadn't yet determined quite how it worked, just that it was deadly and that it shared similarities with several older poisons that hadn't been made in decades. But there was one test she could perform right away -- determining if cooking or boiling contaminated food and water would destroy the poison. And indeed, cooking at temperatures high enough to boil water seemed to break the poison down enough that it was no longer potent. She had let her sample water cool for another round of testing, as she was worried that the poison would simply reconstitute itself under cooler conditions, but the boiled poison stayed as it was -- broken down and harmless.

With that knowledge in hand, Anissina had rushed from her tower laboratory to the ground-level kitchens in their separate building and began giving orders. Order number one: everyone in the castle was to stop drinking fresh water and to stop eating uncooked food. Order two: every ounce of uncooked food and every drop of water (except what was needed for tonight's dinner) was to be brought to her laboratory for further examination and testing. Order number three: tonight's dinner was to be cooked at temperatures high enough to boil the food, and the drinking water was to be boiled as well. Ilaria and Idonea didn't much care for the new orders, as it meant more work for them, but Anissina pointed out that simply boiling the food and water might prevent the disease from spreading further, and they were thus convinced to obey. And so it was that Miriam, Maou of Shin Makoku, found herself discussing important matters of State with her predecessor, her royal aide, and her family over what amounted to tasteless water and thin gruel.

"Our first order of business should be spreading the word about making sure to boil all water and cook all food at high temperatures," Conrad said. "And…perhaps we should let the people know that Great Cimaron caused this."

"That will just cause more chaos," Gwendal said. "They'll assume we're spreading that information to place the blame on Great Cimaron."

"I doubt anyone could think Great Cimaron is completely innocent in this, Uncle," Ahren pointed out. "After all, they continue to take advantage of our civil war to attack our borderlands and take those lands for themselves."

Miriam sighed. "We need allies. Have they all abandoned us?"

"If you were to send a message requesting aide from Cabalcade, they would send it," Gunter said.

Yuuri set his spoon down and looked up at Gwendal and Gunter. "What happened to Francshire and Caloria? They used to be strong allies as well."

Gwendal frowned and tapped his fingers on the table. "Caloria…Great Cimaron has closed off our access to Caloria. We have no idea what is happening with them. Francshire lost touch with us as well, though I suspect that is due to our lack of contact with Cabalcade. Most of our communications with Francshire were passed through Cabalcade first, after all."

"We should try to re-establish contact," Miriam declared. "Yozak, would you be able to form teams to send to Cabalcade and Francshire?"

He nodded. "What about Caloria?"

"Too dangerous," Miriam replied. "We can send a new ambassador to them after we defeat Great Cimaron, or perhaps after we re-establish relations with our other allies."

"What are we going to do about the civil war?" Odelia asked.

"What can we do?" her brother Elric countered. "The Mazoku and non-Mazoku want each other dead."

"Do we know who their leaders are?" Yuuri asked.

Miriam looked at Ahren and raised an eyebrow. "Well, sort of," Ahren said. "Finding them is another matter, though. Why?"

"Find them and invite them here," Yuuri said. "Mazoku and non-Mazoku, at the same time. Present the evidence of Great Cimaron's role in this to them. You'd be amazed at what a little talking can do."

"Yuuri --" Odelia began.

Miriam held her hand up, silencing her daughter. "Yozak? Can it be done?"

"It'll be rough, but it can be done," her said.

"Then please see to it," she said. "I want them here within the next three days. And please see to sending some teams to Cabalcade and Francshire. It's our only hope."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Three days later, Miriam and the others were visiting the still-sleeping Wolfram when one of the palace guards appeared. "Very sorry to disturb you, Heika, but the war leaders are here for an audience with you. I've asked them to wait in separate rooms on the ground floor."

"Thank you. Please let them know that we will be with them as soon as possible." The guard bowed and left, and Miriam turned to Anissina and Greta. "You know what we have left in the palace treasure rooms. I must have one gown down there, and some appropriate jewels, right?"

Greta nodded. "There's a lot left down there, actually. What do you want us to bring up?"

Miriam began pacing. "A black gown -- the longer the sleeves and the bigger the skirt, the better. My coronation crown should still be there, so bring that too. A black cape, if we have one. Whatever other black clothes we have, for Odelia and Yuuri. And don't forget things for yourself and the others. I'll send Ahren and the twins with you. Anissina, we'll need all the evidence you can bring down from your laboratory."

"You intend to make a royal spectacle of this?" Gunter asked quizzically.

"I wouldn't call it a spectacle, Gunter," Miriam said. "I intend to underline the fact that, as much as this war may have diminished my power, I am still the Maou and have every intention of being treated as such. Today, I begin to reclaim Shin Makoku for the Maou and her people."

Greta, Ahren, and the twins returned a surprisingly short time later, bearing the clothes and jewels Miriam had requested. Anissina made her own reappearance shortly thereafter to tell Miriam that the evidence had been set up in the throne room. Miriam gave her a brief, firm nod of understanding and turned her attention back to preparing for the meeting. Gunter, Gwendal, Conrad, and Elric had gone off to prepare themselves, while Yuuri took over Wolfram's office and Odelia moved to her mother's office. Ahren went to help Yuuri while the twins focused on helping their mother and Greta went to help Odelia. And then, in record time, they were ready.

Miriam stepped out of Wolfram's room to find Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter, Elric, Yozak, and a small contingent of royal guards waiting ready in the hallway. "Yozak, please have one of your men bring our guests to the throne room. I intend to make a grand entrance, and such a thing is difficult without an audience."

Yozak sent one of his men ahead, and the group settled in to wait for Yuuri, Miriam's other children, and Anissina. When they finally appeared, Miriam motioned for Gunter and Gwendal to take the lead and they headed for the nearest stairs down. Miriam took up a spot behind them, with Odelia and Yuuri walking just behind and slightly to either side of her. Conrad, Ahren, and Elric formed the next rank, then Gisela and Anissina, and finally Greta and the twins. Yozak and his guards arranged themselves in an honor guard formation around the group.

"How many guests do we have today?" Miriam asked Yozak.

"Two dozen -- twelve from each side," he said. At Miriam's surprise look, he added, "We only asked for the highest-level leaders, but each side kept trying to out-do the other. We finally limited them to twelve representatives each. Neither side would go lower and we didn't want them to go higher."

"I see," she said grimly. "This is going to be interesting. You're keeping them well apart, I presume?"

"Of course. And we'll have plenty of our men between them, too," Yozak replied.

"Excellent." They continued on in silence until they arrived at the doors to the throne room. Yozak gave a signal and two of the guards stepped forward to flank the heavy doors. The group paused, watching Miriam and waiting for her to be ready. She took a deep breath, then squared her shoulders and raised her head in a regal pose she hadn't assumed in years. "Well…let's get on with it then." She nodded to the guards, who pulled open the doors in perfect unison. Gunter and Gwendal entered and stepped to either side, leaving plenty of room for Miriam and the rest of her entourage to stride past. Miriam stared straight ahead, keeping up a pace brisk enough to make her thick black cape billow behind her and her heavy black skirt swish and swirl about her hidden feet. The palace guards occupying the center of the room split into two perfect lines and formed a path down the center for her while at the same time keeping the two groups of guests separate. Out of the corners of her eyes, she noticed that the twelve people to her left stood and bowed as she passed, while the twelve to her right remained seated. She pondered her options for a moment, then came to an abrupt halt before reaching her throne and turned to the group on her right. With a simple wave of her hand, the guards on that side parted, giving her a better view of their visitors. They were all sitting, staring at the empty throne and trying desperately to ignore Miriam. They all seemed quite nervous, except for one -- a woman at the front of the group, the only one wearing anything resembling armor, who seemed not to have a care in the world. Miriam stalked around to stand in front of the woman, who stared coolly back at her.

"In this country," Miriam said coldly, "it is customary to stand and bow when the Maou passes. It is the polite and correct thing to do."

"Hmph. You're no Maou of mine, so why should I give you any respect?" the woman replied.

Miriam raised an eyebrow. She felt Yuuri and Odelia move back into position with her, and heard the dangerous rattling that indicated that Odelia was both armed and restless. "If you no longer consider me your Maou, then you must also no longer consider yourself a citizen of Shin Makoku."

"Oh, I'm a citizen of Shin Makoku all right. I just have no intention of bowing to the tyrant who lets her people slaughter mine."

"Tyrant?" Odelia hissed behind her.

Yuuri stepped forward before Miriam could say anything about that. "Are you a human?" he asked kindly.

The woman snorted. "What's it to you if I am?"

"Nothing," Yuuri replied. "But you're certainly not a Mazoku. We brought you here today because we're tying to fix things and end the war. Surely you can at least show a little respect."

She snorted. "Maybe when we see this evidence the Maou has of our innocence. We don't believe she thinks we're innocent, after all." Her eyes darted to the Mazoku on the other side of the room, separated from her by space, two lines of guards, and the remaining members of Miriam's entourage. Her eyes lingered on the Maou's companions, and she frowned. Her lips moved, her frown deepened, and she raised her finger to point to each member of the entourage in turn.

"What are you doing?" Odelia demanded, but the woman ignored her.

"She's counting," Yuuri said.

Odelia glared at him. "I know that. But why?"

The woman turned to them and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Miriam. "There are two missing."

Miriam blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, that's the entire Royal Household, isn't it? I remember seeing pictures when I was younger, and seeing you all in the big parades. But there are two missing now. The former Maou isn't here, if I'm not mistaken, and neither is your husband. Where are they?"

"Heika --" Gunter began, but Miriam held up a hand to stop them. She gave the woman before her a curious look.

"Cecilie-Maou is dead. The disease that has been ravaging the Mazoku population killed her years ago. My husband is ill with the same disease."

A sober silence fell over the room. Miriam let her eyes rest on the woman for a moment, then turned and ascended the few short steps to her throne, settling into it with a regal air. "Unfortunately, the powers of the Maou are not such that she can simply order a disease to halt its spread or to order the end of a civil war," Miriam continued. "Not a single person in this palace has ever blamed the non-Mazoku population of Shin Makoku for the creation or spread of this terrible disease. We do, in fact, condemn the fighting that has gone on in the name of the Mazoku." Her dark eyes shifted and fell on the twelve Mazoku leaders, who looked up at her before hanging their heads in shame. "Unless someone in Shin Makoku has collaborated with our enemies -- and this is of course entirely possible -- there is not a single citizen of this nation to blame for the disease. However, the blame for the war lies squarely on the shoulders of each and every citizen who has taken up arms against his or her fellow citizen for any reason except self-defense. Now, my questions to you are thus: do you wish to know the true cause of the disease ravaging the Mazoku population? And once that information is revealed to you, will you pledge to work together with your Maou and your former enemies to put an end to this war and to punish our true enemies for what they have done to us?"

The members of the two groups gathered more closely and began discussing the issue amongst themselves in hushed tones, every so often throwing suspicious glances across the room at the other group. One of the Mazoku leaders finally emerged from his group and fixed Miriam with a hard, haughty stare. "Shifting the blame to us, now, are you?" he asked. "Going to say we spread the disease ourselves in a bid for power?"

"Hardly," Miriam said dryly. "The spreaders of the disease are not from Shin Makoku. Yozak," she added, turning to him for a moment, "bring the prisoners up here, please. Make sure you bring their armor and weapons as well." Yozak bowed and motioned for some of his soldiers to follow him, and the small group left the throne room. Miriam turned her attention back to her guests. "Well?"

"We want to see this proof you offer first," one of the non-Mazoku said. "Then we'll decide whether or not to fight for you."

Miriam shook her head. "It's a package deal. You hear my evidence, you agree to fight for me. If you do not want to fight, the way out is behind you. I'm sure my guards will be happy to guide you back to the palace gates as well." Nobody moved. "Very well, then. Anissina, please present your evidence to our guests."

The scientist stepped forward and drew everyone's attention to her small display of evidence, including one of the vials Yuuri, Gwendal, and Odelia had brought back. Miriam settled back in her throne and watched with great interest as Anissina explained what the poison was, how she thought it worked, and her discovery that very high temperatures made the poison completely safe. Their guests were impressed…for a moment.

"So if you're not accusing the Mazoku and you're not accusing the humans or half-humans of spreading this," the woman leading the non-mazoku group said, "then who _are _you accusing?"

"Great Cimaron," Miriam said.

Silence. Then, "You have no proof!" one of the Mazoku leaders declared.

"On the contrary, we have captured soldiers who confessed to poisoning a local river," the Maou replied. "The leader of the remaining palace forces has gone to bring them here."

"You got them to confess?" another of the non-Mazoku leaders asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Yes," Miriam said.

"How, through torture?" he countered.

"Hardly!" Miriam exclaimed, glaring down at him.

"Not that I didn't want to," Odelia muttered, rubbing her injured side. Gunter scowled at her, but she ignored him. "They ambushed us on the way back from Cabalcade," she explained. "And when we defeated them, they told us what they had been doing."

"It certainly makes a lot of things clearer," the non-mazoku woman mused. "They keep sending representatives with offers of aide -- medicines, food, weapons, armor, even soldiers to train our forces."

The Mazoku leader leaned around the row of guards blocking his group from the non-Mazoku and stared at her. "They've been going to you too? I thought they wanted to support our side…"

Any response the woman would have made was interrupted by the throne room doors crashing open and Yozak making his grand entrance, followed by several guards and the captured Great Cimaron soldiers. Yozak himself carried an armload of swords, while behind him Dorcas and a few other men hauled the captured soldiers' armor. They lined the soldiers up in a neat row before Miriam's throne and dumped the weapons and armor in a series of piles well out of their reach. "The captured soldiers, Heika," Yozak said, giving Miriam a sweeping bow.

"Impeccable timing as always, Yozak," she said. As he stepped aside, Miriam turned her attention to her guests once more. "Please, feel free to question them and examine their armor and weapons. You will notice that they have come to no harm while in our care."

"I don't need to question them," the woman growled darkly. "That one there, he's their leader, and he's the one who keeps coming to us offering aide."

The Mazoku leader nodded. "He has come to us before as well. Bastard never said anything about poisoning the Mazoku, though."

"Well, that's obviously something they wouldn't want us to know about," one of his comrades pointed out. "They were trying to make allies of us. Would you tell potential allies that you were poisoning their people?"

"True," the leader replied dryly. He gave Miriam a brief bow. "I cannot and will not speak for my colleagues, Heika, but you have convinced me. I will not force my people to join you, but they will hear what I have learned today and will be able to decide for themselves whether or not to join you…I'm sure most of them will."

"As will my people," the non-mazoku woman replied. "We're not too fond of being manipulated."

Miriam beamed at them. "Then return to your people, and send me messages when you know their decisions."


	38. Preparing for Battle

**Chapter 37: Preparing for Battle**

In the ten years since his last trip to Shin Makoku, Yuuri had once again gotten used to relying on phone calls, emails, and the occasional faxes for staying in touch with people. Letters sent the old-fashioned way were a novelty in his life, and they seemed to take forever. So when Miriam had mentioned sending messengers to some of Shin Makoku's former allies, it didn't occur to Yuuri that she literally meant sending people with specific, memorized messages across borders into other countries. And when she had asked the leaders of the various factions in the civil war to send her messages, it hadn't even occurred to him that those messages would come by any method other than whatever passed for email over here. In hindsight, Yuuri wasn't sure how he had managed to convince himself that something like email existed in his former kingdom, especially considering the trip he had made with Gwendal and Odelia just to find their friends.

And yet, he still found the days and days of waiting to be so tedious, he started wishing that he too could just sleep through them like Wolfram.

One day, a particularly cold one for the end of summer, he slowly pushed the door to Wolfram's room open and poked his head inside, intending to visit his former fiancé. But Miriam was already there, sitting on the edge of her husband's bed, hunched over a bit as she watched him sleep, and Yuuri thought it would be best to leave them be. He pulled his head back into the hallway and began to close the door once more when Miriam stirred.

"You can come in," she said quietly. "I would be grateful for the company."

Yuuri paused, then entered the room, closing the door behind himself and going to sit in the chair beside the bed. Miriam's dark eyes fell on him, watching his every move as he slowly lowered himself into the plush seat and glanced at Wolfram's gaunt face. "He's not getting any better, is he?"

"No…but he's not getting any worse, either, and I suppose we should be grateful for that. His mother was long dead by this many weeks after she fell ill. I'm not ready for him to die just yet."

They sat in silence for a long while, Maou and former Maou watching the man so closely connected to both of them as he slept. Wolfram looked very peaceful. Yuuri hoped that meant he wasn't suffering.

"Does Anissina have any idea how the poison works?" he finally asked.

Miriam shook her head. "It's a sneaky poison. The way it works seems to be connected to the strength of the victim's maryoku. Cheri-sama had very weak maryoku, so it killed her without much trouble. Gwendal is very strong, so he was able to fight it off. Wolfram…they say he's strong too, but then I have to wonder why he hasn't healed yet."

"Maybe he ingested more of it, or a stronger version of it," Yuuri mused.

Miriam sighed. "Maybe. Though, if Great Cimaron has made a stronger version of the poison…the very idea terrifies me."

More silence, and more of watching Wolfram sleep. Miriam gently brushed a few stray strands of straggly graying blond hair off his forehead, then rubbed her eyes. "Ah, Yuuri, I don't want to have a bigger war against Great Cimaron," she said. "But what else can I do? They're killing our people…my people. I've sat by and watched, feeling helpless and being useless, for far too long. I want this war to be over. But is intensifying the war really the answer?"

Yuuri shook his head. "I don't know. I never had to worry about this sort of thing. But you know, I think you should wait until the messengers return and the faction leaders make their decisions. Then you'll know what resources you have, right?"

"I suppose. But I grow more and more impatient, Yuuri. More and more impatient every day."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam's patience finally paid off when, the following morning, Gunter threw open the door to the room she had been living in since Wolfram fell ill and tore the curtains over the room's huge windows open. "Heika!"

The Maou cracked her eyes open just enough to see who, exactly, had dared disturb her so early in the morning, then pulled the blankets over her head and muttered something about Gunter dying a slow, painful death if he stayed in her room much longer.

He frowned at her. "Heika, this is important. You must get up and come see!"

"I don't want to," she grumbled petulantly. "I was up late with Wolfram, let me sleep."

She felt a hand on her shoulder through the blankets and Gunter's voice said, "Heika, you really do need to see this. I think it will help you feel better about things. Please?"

With a great sigh of aggravation, Miriam shoved her blankets aside, swung her feet out of bed, and followed Gunter to the window. He smiled and pointed down at the courtyard. The Maou's eyes widened in shock and she gasped. "Gunter, who…where…what in the world is going on?"

"It appears that sending messages to our old allies was a success," he said. "This group arrived from Francshire this morning, with word that aid is on its way from Cabalcade as well -- it seems that the Cabalcade group stopped to assist a smaller city that was under attack. I also received a message from our people on the coast this morning, stating that our ambassador to Caloria successfully left Shin Makoku several days ago. I'm excepting to hear of Caloria's fleet arriving at our shores any day now."

The courtyard below was packed with hundreds of men, most of them dressed in the uniform of the Francshire army. Here and there, some of Yozak's men milled about, chatting with the new arrivals and darting back and forth between the soldiers and the castle. As Miriam watched, a tall man, a heavy gold crown settled on thick hair just beginning to go gray and thin, emerged from the crowd and waved to someone on the steps leading to the main entrance off the courtyard. A few moments later, Gwendal and Yuuri appeared, Gwendal reserved and elegant as always, Yuuri with his arms outstretched to greet his old friend.

"I need to get down there," Miriam muttered. "Oh good skies, what am I going to wear? I don't even have time for a bath…"

Gunter opened her wardrobe and deftly selected her outfit for the day. Miriam threw it on, splashed on water on her face, cleaned her teeth, and brushed her hair. She briefly pondered applying make-up, then declared it a waste of time. Gunter handed her some shoes and her gold circlet, and they set off for the courtyard.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam stepped out of the courtyard entryway and grinned at the three men before her. Gwendal and Yuuri were talking with Francshire's king, and all three had their backs towards the castle as they surveyed the milling soldiers before them. The sounds of hundreds of voice talking created a noisy hubbub in the open area. "Gunter, how many soldiers did they bring?" she asked.

"Oh, this is just a small part of the army," he said. "There are hundreds more outside the palace, in the area of the city immediately surrounding the palace walls."

"Wow," she muttered. Striding forward to join the others, she called, "You've certainly outdone yourself, my friend."

The king of Francshire turned and smiled at her. "My apologies for not coming to your aid sooner," he said. "We had no idea what was going on here."

"I know. That's what Hristo Cryff told Yuuri and the others as well. Great Cimaron hasn't been causing you problems lately, have they?"

He shook his head. "No, which struck us as strange. We're assuming it's because they were focusing their efforts on taking over Shin Makoku."

"I see," Miriam murmured. Anything else she or the others might have said was interrupted by a great cry that went up from the soldiers crowded by the open end of the courtyard. The cry swept through the crowd in a great wave, becoming a roar as it was taken up by the men near the staircase on which the Maou stood. "What's going on?" she shouted at Gwendal.

He pointed at the section of the crowd ebbing and flowing around a small group that appeared to be moving closer to the staircase. "Something to do with that, it seems," he said. Finally, the crowd before them opened up and deposited the moving group at the bottom of the stairs. The group consisted of four people, who arranged themselves in a neat line and gave Miriam and her companions a deep bow.

"Maou Heika!" the only woman in the group declared. "Surely you remember me and my companions."

Miriam blinked at them, and then her eyes lit up in recognition. Before her stood two leaders of the non-Mazoku half of the civil war (including the woman who had challenged her when they had first met) and two of their counterparts on the Mazoku side of the war. "Of course, how could I forget? I must admit to being surprised that you are addressing me as 'Maou,' though."

"Well, I figured I should if I'm going to be working with you," she said. "It being the polite thing to do and all. So, how about it? Still looking for allies to fight against Great Cimaron?"

"Always," Miriam said. "The more allies we have in this fight, the louder our message to Great Cimaron that we will not tolerate their behavior."

"Spoken like a true leader," the king of Francshire said.

Miriam laughed. "I hope you won't be too disappointed if I leave most of the military planning to Gwendal, then. I'm terrible with such things."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

That evening, just after dinner, word arrived that Cabalcade's forces were just half a day's march from the city, and would be arriving around lunch time the following day. To make matters even better, Miriam awoke the following morning to a giddy Gunter, dancing about her bed and waving a letter from Caloria's navy, which had just arrived at the coast and had apparently beaten back some of Great Cimaron's forces to gain access to one of the ports. Though most of the forces they had sent were indeed ocean-based, they had also managed to send a thousand foot soldiers, who were currently making their way to Blood Pledge Castle. All that day, the men and women who had once fought against each other on opposite sides of the civil war streamed into the capital and mingled with the foreign soldiers. As it was, the castle grounds were overflowing with soldiers, and hundreds more had taken up residence in the many abandoned houses in the city. For the first time in ages, the capital of Shin Makoku was coming to life once more. Miriam hoped this was just a foreshadowing of the new life to come.

Finally just two days later, the full forces had gathered in the capital, and Miriam knew it was time to plan the final battle. And it would be the final battle, whether they won or lost -- everyone knew that Shin Makoku couldn't take much more abuse. This battle had to work, or Shin Makoku would be no more. Thus, two events went into motion at once. Miriam settled down to write letters to Great Cimaron, ordering an immediate end to their military incursions into Shin Makoku as well as an immediate end to the poisoning of Shin Makoku's food and water supplies. Gwendal, meanwhile, shut himself in his office with the leaders of the forces he would be officially commanding and began planning out their strategies. And then, with the letters written and the planning over, they all settled in to wait. Miriam hoped that the threat of violence from the relatively large and powerful force gathered in Shin Makoku would be enough to convince Great Cimaron to pull back, but when that nation's king sent a response, it contained one simple word: "No." Within an hour of receiving that letter, the members of the Royal Household and every high-ranking military officer present in the capital city, plus as many lower-ranking officers as they could fit, crowded into the throne room to hear Gwendal's strategy.

As everyone milled about trying to find a place to sit, Conrad and Yozak carried in a large, free-standing board, to which they had pinned the biggest map of Shin Makoku they had been able to find. Conrad had marked the location of the capital with a bright red circle, and had equipped the board with a set of thick-tipped colored pens so Gwendal could draw out his plans. They set the board beside the half-circle of chairs that had been set up in place of Miriam's throne -- for now Shin Makoku was in the hands of a committee of war leaders, not just the Maou. Conrad and Yozak had just finished setting the board in place and laying out the pens when Miriam, Gwendal, and the other arrived, causing every person in the room to rise and snap to attention with a great, thunderous clap of dozens of booted heels striking the floor in unison. Miriam and the others took their seats, grimfaced, as Gwendal went to stand beside the board to begun laying out their plans.

"The bad news is that Great Cimaron's forces have begun gathering near their border for a massive push into Shin Makoku," he began. "The good news is that we estimate it will take their forces a minimum of seven days to completely regroup and begin their march towards the capital." Gwendal selected one of the pens Conrad had left for him and drew a long green arch along the border. "Great Cimaron's forces are gathering here. You will note that they are right along the coast --" he ran his finger over the great blue blob of ocean, "-- in this area. You will also notice that this area is at a much lower elevation that the land just north of it." He indicated an area on the map covered with little inverted V's showing the location of a mountain range close to the coast. "These mountains are short, but the provide a line of defense for Shin Makoku. Additionally, they are fronted by a series of cliffs which face the ocean and overlook the very area where Great Cimaron's forces are gathering. Now, you must be wondering, as I did, why they would be gathering in such a dangerous location. As far as we can tell, they have come here for two reasons: their naval forces, though limited, are gathered off this section of coast, and they believe that the presence of the mountains will protect them from any attacks we may mount by making it difficult for us to arrive at their position. However, we have the advantage of knowing the land. You see here --" he selected another pen and marked out and area near the easternmost end of the mountain range "-- we have a place through which we can march an army with relative ease."

"Surely they've noticed that by now and set up scouts," someone from the crowd called.

Gwendal nodded. "Unfortunately, there is no other way in that will get us there in the limited time we have. If we can seal any possible escape routes and keep Great Cimaron's military below the cliffs, we will have the high ground, and that will give us an advantage. Conrad, do you have the map we drew for this area?"

"Of course," Conrad said. He disappeared for a moment, then returned to the throne room bearing a large, rolled-up map, which he and his older brother unrolled and pinned to the board over the map of Shin Makoku.

"The cliffs are steep, but rather narrow," Gwendal said, motioning to the spots marked as cliffs on the map. "I propose setting up our archers here, along with some soldiers capable of defending the archers' positions if needed. But you will also notice a few areas where the cliffs are not so steep. In three of these places -- one to the east and two to the west -- the incline is shallow enough to allow our forces on foot to sweep down the hillsides and into the basin where Great Cimaron's soldiers are located. They will not be able to do this while the archers are firing, of course. We tried the combined soldier-and-archery defense style once at this very castle, and it was difficult to maintain without shooting our own people. We wish to avoid that this time. Instead, the foot soldiers will be held in reserve while the archers fire on Great Cimaron's forces from the cliffs. When the archers are half-way through their arrows, the foot soldiers will attack and the archers will retreat to support positions."

Another member of the crowd raised her hand. "What about Caloria's naval forces?"

Gwendal gave her a grim smile. "They will begin the attack by bringing the war to Great Cimaron's navy. Any ships from our side that manage to break through are encouraged to devote at least some of their shipboard weapons to firing on Great Cimaron's land-based forces, if they can come in close enough." He let his eyes roam around the room, then said., "That is the broad outline of what will be going on when we reach the coast and the border. Some of the men and women up here with me are leaders of specific forces, and you will be getting more detailed instructions from them shortly. As soon as you have been briefed on the roles you and your people will take, you will pack your gear and prepare to move out. There's no time to lose."

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Miriam slipped from the throne room as the men and woman inside broke down into smaller groups to get their own, more specific orders, and raced up the stairs to the room she had shared with Wolfram before he fell ill and she was forced to move out for her own safety. During the planning of this final battle, Gwendal had argued rather vehemently that Miriam and her children should not go to battle. But Miriam had argued just as vehemently that, as Maou, she had a responsibility to serve her country any way she could, and that if going to war was included in that responsibility, so be it. Plus, her children were all adults. They could decide whether or not to fight for themselves. In the end, only the twins had opted out, and Miriam had breathed a silent sigh of relief over that. Someone would be here with Wolfram now. And besides, the twins were useless with weapons. They would just get in the way on a battlefield.

But if she was going off to war (and it sounded like she was indeed going to be leaving soon), she needed to say goodbye to Wolfram. She pushed the door to his room open, squinting in the dim light caused by sunlight struggling to show through thick, closed curtains, and tiptoed to his bedside. She knelt on the floor and took his hand in both of hers, watching him sleep in silence for a moment. Miriam sighed and kissed the back of his hand (his skin felt so fragile, like warm tissue paper) and looked away.

"Wolfram. Oh, where to begin?" she whispered. "I know you probably wouldn't want me to go off to war, but the fact is, everyone else is going, and as Maou I feel like I have to go too. Great Cimaron is being…terrible. I told you they poisoned our food and water on purpose, right? That's why you're sick now. And they refused my request to stop fighting us and poisoning us, so we have no other choice. I just…I just wish it could have been different. I wish you could have woken up before all this, and that you could have seen us off…that you could have been there for your brother when Gunter and Gisela and Conrad disappeared, and that you could have celebrated with us when they came home…I wish you could be going with us now, not because I want you to be involved in another war, but because I would feel so much better with you by my side…Wolfram…"

Miriam had cried many times since her husband had fallen ill, but somehow, this time, it felt so final. Like it was the end, the last time she would be able to cry over him. She was convinced that this time, going into this battle, her own life would be over. Had her time finally come up? Was she going to follow her mother-in-law into whatever lay beyond? For that matter, did she even believe in any sort of afterlife?

Wolfram's fingers twitched in her hand, and she looked up, blinking at him through tear-filled eyes. And then, she gasped. For the first time in ages, Wolfram's green eyes blinked back at her.

"Miriam," he whispered, voice so quiet and raspy she wondered if she was imagining his words, "you don't need me there. You have me here," he pulled his hand away from hers and tapped her forehead, "and you have me here," he added, resting his hand over her heart. "You don't need my anywhere else. You're strong enough on your own."

"Promise me you won't die before I come back," she blurted. "Promise me!"

He gave her a weak smile and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "It's going to take more than poison to stop me," he said. "I'd be dead already if I was that much of a wimp." He fell silent, breathing slowly, collecting his strength. "Listen to me," he finally said. "Shin Makoku and Great Cimaron have been feuding for ages, long before I was even born. I think…I think this fight will end that once and for all. You just have to play it right."

She squeezed his hand, then leaned forward to gently kiss his lips. "I'll do my best. Now get some rest. You still sound exhausted." She paused, watching him for a moment, then pressed her cheek to his so that her lips were by his ear. "I love you so much, Wolf. Wait for me."


	39. One Last Great Battle

I thought for sure the last chapter would get at least one review, considering what happened at the end of it...hmm...anyway, the end is now in sight. No, really, there's only one chapter left after this one. It's going to feel so strange not updating this every day. But first, on with the remaining events:

* * *

**Chapter 38: One Last Great Battle**

They arrived at their chosen battle site in just under seven days, only to discover that whoever had told them they would have at least those full seven days to get there had been wrong -- the whole of Great Cimaron's forces had massed in the border area, and they were in the midst of preparing to move out.

"Good thing we didn't wait or take a longer path," Odelia whispered as she, Gwendal, Conrad, Yuuri, Yozak, Miriam, and a few of their allies huddled behind their bushes and rocks, eyes trained on the forces below. "We would have run right into them on the way here, and that could have been a disaster."

"It's a disaster anyway," Yuuri muttered. "Look how many there are."

"But look how poorly armored they all are," Gwendal pointed out. "Not at all like the ones who attacked us on the way back from Cabalcade. It seems that Great Cimaron doesn't have the resources to train, feed, and protect all of their soldiers."

The woman who had once led the non-Mazoku force snorted. "If the arrows and archers we have today are as good as the ones defending the castle all that time ago, we have nothing to worry about." The Shin Makoku leaders gave her a startled look, and she chuckled. "Yeah, I was there. Never made it into the castle grounds, though, my people forced me to leave when things took a turn for the worse for us." She squinted down at the soldiers milling about on the beach. "They're spread out, and they don't suspect a thing. Sitting ducks, the idiots."

"Yozak, send a pigeon to our naval forces," Miriam said. "Conrad," she added as Yozak slipped away to do her bidding, "start getting the archers set up. Make sure they remain under cover until we know the navy is ready." Conrad nodded and slowly backed out of his hiding spot, heading off to let his nephew Ahren know that it was time to prepare the archers. Miriam and the others relayed messages about their current status to the flag bearers, who (along with their signaling flags) had been brought along on the spur of the moment when it was decided that silent means of communication might come in handy. Miriam watched them just long enough to make sure they weren't being too obvious in waving their flags about, then crept off to where Odelia and Elric had gone to help each other into their armor.

"You need to get ready too," Odelia hissed at her. "Uncle Gunter's looking for you."

Miriam gave a quiet snort. "Bet he neglected his own armor to find me."

"Have more faith in me than that, Heika," Gunter's soft voice said from behind her, and she turned to see Gunter, kitted out in a full set of specially-made lightweight armor, frowning at her and holding her own armor out to her. "I have to say though, it was a brilliant idea to travel without this. Can you imagine the noise we would have made, approaching in full gear?"

"Mm. Talk about lacking the element of surprise," Miriam said dryly. She raised her arms to let Gunter put the armor on, turning her head just enough to look at Odelia out of the corner of her eye. "I don't want you to overexert yourself, but whenever you can use your abilities and confound the enemy, it would be most helpful. Especially if it looks like they're breaking through out defenses."

Odelia nodded and gave the ties of her right gauntlet one last tug. "Don't worry about me. I know my limits." She glanced up at her mother, eyes filled with angry fire. "These bastards aren't getting out of here alive."

Miriam didn't get a chance to say anything else, for she was distracted by the rather frantic waving of a signal flag nearby. "What's going on?"

"Looks like the navy's in place," Elric said, frowning at the flag. "We should be hearing something from them any second --"

A great cry erupted from beyond the trees and rocks, and moments later Yuuri came pelting out of the forest, looking so terrified that Miriam was certain he was being chased. The former Maou came to a screeching halt before her, panting. "We can see it…the naval battle…got the attention of Great Cimaron's soldiers…that was the yelling you heard….oh, I shouldn't have run here like that…"

A sound like thunder rolled over them a few seconds later, but it lasted far too long to be a storm. "They're close enough that we can hear the battle even up here," Miriam muttered.

"That close, or there are that many of them," Gunter said. "Well, time to take up our positions. Heika, Princess, Prince, Yuuri, I wish you the best of luck." And with that, the royal aide vanished into the crowd to take command of his soldiers.

"Right," Miriam said. Odelia and Elric helped Miriam and Yuuri with the remaining bits of their armor, then Miriam collected Morgif from where it had been stored on the trek here and moved into position with the others. Off to one side, she could see Ahren and the archers under his command arranging themselves in neat ranks under the cover of assorted trees and rocks. Not that they had to worry about being noticed, at this point.

"Great Cimaron's forces have high numbers, but…I think they might all be stupid," Yozak mused as Miriam came to stand in front of him and between Conrad and Gwendal. "I've been watching them. They only have eyes for the naval battle right now."

"Don't underestimate the enemy," Gwendal rumbled. "You could lose your life because of it."

Yozak gave him a cynical stare. "Really, Excellency, I'm smarter than that. I'm a good-looking man but I didn't get this far in life on that alone." Gwendal gave him a mock glare and Gunter stifled a chuckle. Leave it to Yozak to try to lighten the mood. Then the crowd settled into a tense silence, listening to the thunder of warring ships and the shouts of angry and confused men from below, waiting for the right time to make their move.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Ahren glanced over his shoulder as Odelia came up beside him. "Anything exciting going on?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "We're waiting for our ships to move in closer and start bombarding the beach before making our moves."

She frowned. "Will they really be able to get in close enough to cause much damage?"

Ahren nodded. "It's high tide right now, and the waters here are quite deep to begin with." He pointed to some spots along the beach where Great Cimaron's forces had set up tents on great piers reaching out into the sparkling ocean. "See those? We had been planning on building a new port city here. We only managed to get the piers in place before the disease and the civil war, though. But fairly large boats can put in there…including some of the smaller, lighter warships. And even those ships have enough power to cause some serious damage to land-based forces."

As they watched, two of Great Cimaron's battle ships took enough damage to be placed out of commission (one seemed to withdraw and Odelia was certain the other started to sink), creating the opening for several of the smaller Shin Makoku ships to dart through and sail into the piers. Great Cimaron tried to compensate, but as the Shin Makoku ships slipped by, a few of the larger Calorian ships that had been hanging back glided forward and promptly began bombarding the enemy, effectively giving the Shin Makoku ships a free pass to pull into the piers. At first, Great Cimaron's foot soldiers just stood there, staring at the approaching boats in confusion. It wasn't until the first of the missiles shot from the boats gouged great holes in the beach before them that they concluded that standing around wasn't such a good idea, and wheeled about to make a run for the hills.

"Well, have fun. I'm gonna join our own foot soldiers," Odelia declared, giving her brother a quick pat on the shoulder. He nodded to her as she left, then shouted for his archers to assume their positions.

With a great war cry, the archers surged from their hiding place and quickly took up the positions Ahren had long ago planned for them -- archers from Shin Makoku and Caloria with smaller, less powerful bows formed the front rank of kneeling archers and the middle rank of standing archers, positioned so that they could shoot between the heads of their kneeling comrades. Behind them, a third row of soldiers from Francshire, equipped with longer and much more powerful bows, formed a line of standing soldiers whose instructions were to shoot high over the heads of the others. And then there was the small contingent of sharpshooters from Cabalcade, armed with wicked crossbows and positioned strategically in trees and around the edges of the rest of the archery force, ready to pick off any potential Great Cimaron escapees before they could reach the rest of the hidden army. Today, the archers were a force to be reckoned with.

Great Cimaron's soldiers barely had time to react before the arrows began raining down on them, but the moment they understood their situation, the fog that seemed to have occupied their brains since the beginning of the naval battle cleared. One group of brave men turned again and darted back towards the piers and the tents there, where they were out of range of the archers. Two of them died when missiles landed too close to them, but the others made it to the few surviving tents and began ferrying equipment from the tents to the others. Ahren squinted to see what they were carrying, and gasped. "Odelia! Get over here!"

His sister came scrambling back moments later. "What is it?"

"Look! They're bringing shields, and what I think might be crossbows! We have to stop them!"

Odelia focused on the men, her face turning a bright red and beads of sweat gathering on her brow as she struggled to confuse even one of the men with darkness, but it was no use. With a great gasp, she stumbled and leaned against her brother for support. "No use. Too far away," she mumbled.

Ahren nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "You did your best. Can you stand?" She nodded and struggled to stand on her own, gripping his shoulder to regain her balance. Below them, Great Cimaron's soldiers were beginning to make effective use of their shields, with small clusters of shield-carrying men huddling around two or thee soldiers with crossbows, who began their methodical attack against Ahren's archers. "Go back and tell the others what's going on," he said. "They're going to need to start the next phase of the attack sooner than planned." Odelia nodded and turned away once again, heading back through the forest to deliver the bad news.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"We need to attack, now," she called, stumbling out of the forest and making her way to the front lines.

"Why?" Gwendal asked. "Your brother hasn't had enough time to lower their numbers yet."

"They've regrouped," Odelia said. "They have shields and crossbows, and are starting to pick off the archers. We can't wait any longer or there won't be enough archers to help us."

Miriam gave a determined nod. "Well then, if we have to attack now, we have to attack now. Let's get on with it."

Gwendal nodded and shouted the message to the flag bearers, who sent the signal down the line to the rest of their forces. A few seconds later, they began marching forward, slowly and deliberately, headed for the trees. As they marched, the soldiers began shifting into the three smaller columns they would ultimately become when they rushed down the hill on their planned paths.

Miriam pushed her way to the side of the marching mass until she had reached one of the signalers. "Listen," she said. "Tell everyone this: Go slowly through the trees, but the moment you clear them and have the room to maneuver, charge. All enemy forces are fair game. Show mercy if you can, but we understand if you can't."

As the flag bearer turned and began relaying the message, Miriam went back to her spot, glancing back just long enough to notice that two columns' worth of soldiers were beginning to split off from the main group and follow their designated leaders (Gwendal, Gunter, and their direct subordinates) to their own attack paths. She turned her eyes forward once more, focusing her steely gaze on the few trees remaining between herself and the enemies.

"Here we go, Heika," Yozak said as they drew even with the last of the trees.

"Here we go indeed," she replied, stepping into the sunlight. In one swift motion, she drew Morgif and brandished it over her head. "For Shin Makoku, and for our allies!" she shouted. Beside and slightly behind her, Yozak, Conrad, and Yuuri took up the shout, which traveled back through their forces in a great wave. And then, she was racing headlong down the hill, straight for the startled Great Cimaron soldiers before her.

They surged down the hill, no longer caring about maintaining neat ranks, the soldiers behind her overtaking and flowing around her. Ahead, they bowled into the enemy formations, beating down the shields and even capturing a few of them -- Yozak grabbed two and tossed one each to Yuuri and Miriam before continuing his sweeping path of destruction, the members of his Rutenberg division breaking off from the main unit and following along in his wake. To Miriam's right, farther up the beach, Gunter and Gwendal's forces were doing the same thing. In fact, Gwendal had managed to move on to the next stage, and he was leading an attack on several of Great Cimaron's archers with the help of the woman who had once led non-Mazoku in battle against Mazoku like Gwendal. Nearby, Odelia and Elric were engaging in their usual stunning teamwork and slicing methodically through Great Cimaron's forces. Shin Makoku's small naval vessels had turned their focus away from firing on the soldiers (though the occasional missile did get shot in their direction) and instead focused on destroying the rest of the tents from which the shields and crossbows had come, in the hopes of destroying any remaining weapons reserves.

Miriam and Yuuri lunged over several bodies, struggling to keep their balance on the sand, all the while slashing and stabbing and parrying blows. Conrad came to their aid a few times, driving attackers back far enough that Miriam could make use of Morgif or that Yuuri could dart out of the way and let Conrad finish the job. In the frenzy of the battle, Miriam lost track of where everyone but Yuuri and Conrad had gone, paying just enough attention to make sure she wasn't attacking anyone wearing the wrong uniform.

And then, Elric's terrified voice cut through the sounds of battle and stabbed into her mind like a hot knife. "ODELIA!"

The Maou whirled just in time to see her youngest daughter sink to her knees, swords falling from her hands, a Great Cimaron soldier crouching beside her. She couldn't see clearly at first, but then the soldier jerked back and stood, and Miriam could see the blood glinting in his sword and Odelia frantically pressing her hands to her side as her blood stained them and the sand beneath her a bright red. Elric rushed forward, but the soldier who had felled Odelia took a great swipe at him, and he darted out of the way. He would be of no use to his sister if he was dead.

With a tortured cry, Miriam shot forward, brandishing Morgif at the man who had dared hurt her daughter. He turned to her, and as she passed by a body with a sword sticking out of it, she grabbed that sword's hilt, wrenched it free, and hurled it at the man with all her might. The sword was shorter and lighter than normal, but apparently it was quite sharp and Miriam had excellent aim -- the sword shot through the air like a spear, stabbing through the man's stomach and driving him to his knees. Without even a second thought, Miriam stopped at his side and removed his head with one swift blow from Morgif before going to the girl lying in the sand before her. "Odelia…"

Odelia coughed and winced. "I'll be okay," she grunted. "Just a scratch, that's all. How's it going?"

Miriam looked up as Conrad and Yuuri appeared at her side, joining Elric in forming a protective barrier around the Maou and the Princess. "Could be better, could be worse. Damn Great Cimaron."

"I agree," Odelia said. "Listen, I…don't know how much more strength I have…I'm gonna use it for something good here. On the count of three, I'm putting all my effort into confusing these damned bastards as much as I can, and you and the others need to take as much advantage of that as possible. I don't know how long I can hold it."

"Odelia…"

She fixed her mother with a hard green stare. "No talking me out of this. It'll help. I'd rather going out being useful than just lying here dyeing the sand red. Now…one…" Miriam tightened her grip around Morgif's hilt. "…two…" She pushed herself to her feet. "…three…"

All around her, as though someone had flipped a switch somewhere, the sounds of battled changed. The voices of Great Cimaron's men switched from those of brave fighters to confused and frightened men as most (if not all) of them found themselves plunged into sudden darkness. Miriam threw herself around Conrad, who was staring in open-mouthed awe at the suddenly aimless enemy before him, and shouted, "Don't just stand there, finish them!"

In the end, not even the historians would be able to determine the exact point at which Odelia's strength had given out and Great Cimaron's soldiers had found themselves back in the world of the seeing once more. And in the end, it didn't matter, for they were so perplexed by the sudden return of their vision that, in the first confusing moments of the light's return to their eyes, they turned on themselves. By the time they came to their senses and turned back to their attackers, their forces had taken serious losses and there was no way they could salvage the fight. Some tried to run, but were cut down by Shin Makoku's allies who thought the Great Cimaron soldiers were just trying a new route of attack. Many more fell to the remaining archers when they tried to push their way up the hills.

In the end, the leader of Great Cimaron's army dropped his weapon, pulled a grungy white handkerchief from his pocket and, holding the makeshift flag aloft where all could see it, made his way across the battlefield to throw himself at the Maou's feet and surrender his army to her. Most of those who saw him crossing the field with his white flag also stopped fighting, shouting to their friends to do the same before dropping their weapons and surrendering to their opponents. A few continued trying to fight, but they died in the attempt.

For Shin Makoku and their allies, it was at best a bittersweet victory. For Miriam, however, the bitter far outweighed the sweet.


	40. Cleaning Up and Saying Goodbye

Sadly, it is the end, the final goodbye...or is it (the final goodbye, I mean -- it's most definitely the end).

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**Chapter 39: Cleaning Up and Saying Goodbye**

They had been back at Blood Pledge Castle for a mere five days when the first message from Great Cimaron's government came through, begging for a meeting and a truce. Miriam flew into a rage at the very sight of the poor messengers who had been entrusted with delivering this message, and informed them that there would be no meeting with Great Cimaron's government anytime soon, nor would the terms of any treaties to come be favorable to Great Cimaron. They had attracted too much animosity, not only from Shin Makoku, but also from Caloria, Cabalcade, and Francshire. Even Suberera, a neutral party in the whole mess, sent messages chastising Great Cimaron and urging them to accept whatever terms Miriam and her allies set for them.

Greta and Gisela worked around the clock to restore Odelia to health. Somehow, she hadn't died at the battle, but they said it had been too close for comfort. As far as they were concerned, her fate was still up in the air. Miriam was just grateful that Wolfram seemed to have fallen into his near-comatose state once more, as it meant she didn't have to tell him that his daughter might be on her death bed. Or rather, she could (and did) tell him, but he didn't know or understand what she was saying.

And then there was the matter of rebuilding Shin Makoku, especially the capital. Miriam threw herself into that task in the hopes that it would distract her from her other problems. She sent teams to all corners of the country to test the food and water supplies for traces of the poison. None were found, but she reissued the order to cook all food at high temperatures and boil all water just to be safe. It would be months before she felt safe lifting the order. Her second task was to send messages to all of the refugee colonies that had formed in neighboring nations, letting the people there know that the war was over, the disease seemed to be dying down, and that they were welcome to return whenever they wished. After careful consultations with Gunter, Gwendal, Conrad, and Anissina on the matter, she decided to offer special tax breaks to those who chose to return and help with the rebuilding of Shin Makoku. Those who returned and registered with the rebuilding task forces earlier would get bigger tax breaks. The refugees began trickling back in, very slowly at first, but Gunter assured her that more would return as things got better. She just hoped he was right.

Caloria, Cabalcade, and Francshire proved themselves to be even better friends of Shin Makoku than Miriam had ever dreamed, sending all the resources they could spare for the rebuilding of Shin Makoku. Cabalcade also offered to host and mediate the treaty talks that would eventually take place between Great Cimaron and Shin Makoku (and Shin Makoku's allies), an offer Miriam was grateful to accept.

And then, about a month after the battle, things took a turn for the better when Greta announced that Odelia's prognosis was looking good. Indeed, she and Gisela were certain the Princess would pull through. And indeed, just three days later, a rather pissed off Odelia was sitting up in bed, glaring at everything in sight and arguing over matters of state with her mother and brothers. She insisted on being present for the talks with Great Cimaron, and so it was almost six weeks after the final battle that the talks began.

It was also about six weeks after the battle that Wolfram woke up once more…and didn't go back to sleep. In fact, he seemed very alert and quite annoyed by his weakened state (especially the fact that Gisela and Greta wouldn't let him go to Cabalcade for the talks). He was only appeased when Yuuri agreed to stay behind to both keep him company and explain all that had happened to him, especially the bit about his daughter almost dying. That news hadn't pleased Wolfram too much.

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It was the middle of autumn before Miriam returned from Cabalcade with her entourage and a treaty that was agreeable to everyone involved. Great Cimaron was not to be invaded or controlled by outsiders, but their political system was to be replaced by a constitutional monarchy (no more all-powerful king for them, as Yozak put it) and they were to contribute to the rebuilding of Shin Makoku. Said rebuilding was going rather well, much to everyone's pleasure. More and more refugees were returning each day. It was going to be a difficult winter -- everyone knew that the harvest had been almost nonexistent that year -- but part of the agreement with Great Cimaron had been that they would pay for the importation of more food from abroad to support the population.

It turned out to be a mild winter, and spring returned early to Shin Makoku. The new season brought many great things: a Wolfram whose health had been fully restored, an almost completely rebuilt capital city in Shin Makoku, the return of the last refugees, and a renewal of agriculture and trade. It would be a while yet before things returned completely to normal, but everyone definitely had hope for the future. Miriam, in fact, was so optimistic that she began plans to hold the Midwinter Ball once more. The entire palace got behind her on that one. It wouldn't be as grand as the balls in past years, but as Miriam pointed out, that wasn't the point. The point was to make a statement about things returning to normal and looking brighter every day, even in the dead of winter.

One night in the middle of spring, when the flowering trees were showing their blossoms again and Gunter had turned his attention to coaxing the gardens back to health, Yuuri slipped quietly through the halls of the palace, looking for Wolfram. He had decided that, with everything once again on the road to becoming normal, it was time for him to go home. But first, he needed to have a chat with Wolfram.

But when he opened the door to the bedroom where Wolfram had stayed throughout his illness, he didn't find his former fiance. Instead he found Miriam, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring out the windows at the star-strewn sky visible from them. She looked up at Yuuri and smiled at him, the dim light sparkling in her eyes and making her hair shine. For just a moment, Yuuri thought he saw not the middle-aged woman he had always known, but the young woman Wolfram had met and fallen in love with so many years ago. She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did now, even when that moment vanished and he once again noticed the gray streaks in her dark hair, or the little crows' feet in the corners of her eyes.

"Can I help you, Yuuri?" she asked.

"Oh, well…I didn't mean to disturb you…actually, I was looking for Wolfram, have you seen him?"

Miriam nodded. "He's with Odelia. He has a lot to catch up on with all of our children, you know." She patted the bed beside her. "Come, sit and talk with me. I feel like I've known you forever, but at the same time I feel like I know nothing about you. I need to fix that."

Yuuri crossed the room and settled onto the bed beside her. "So, how do you like being Maou?" he asked.

"Oh, it has its ups and downs," she said nonchalantly. "On the one hand, I'm surround by gorgeous men all the time, and I have all kinds of wealth and power. On the other hand, I have all these idiots trying to poison my people and take over my country." She let out a dramatic sigh, "Some days, you just can't win. How about you? Did you like being Maou?"

Yuuri grinned and laughed. "I guess I did. I mean, I didn't get to be here as long as you have, so I kind of missed out on a lot. Never had the other countries poisoning my people, but I did have to free an innocent soul and drive out this…evil…soul…thingy."

"Yes, I can see how that would be a pain," Miriam said dryly. "How did you wind up here to begin with?"

He sighed and wilted. "You remember me mentioning the Great Sage?" Miriam nodded. "Well, we were school acquaintances. My first trip to Shin Makoku happened because I saw a bunch of older students trying to bully him and I decided to be a hero and try to stop them. They…er…stuck my head in the toilet and flushed. So I got flushed here, I guess you could say. What about you?"

Miriam looked down at the floor and played with a bit of the carpet with her right foot. "Promise me you'll never tell the others, especially Wolfram," she whispered.

"Is it really that embarrassing? I mean, how much worse can it be than being flushed down a toilet?" Yuuri asked. Miriam glared at him, and he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I promise not to tell anyone. So, how did you get here?"

Miriam nodded. "I…had an unhappy life back home. Always alone, nothing I did seemed to matter, I felt like I was just taking up space and being useless, that sort of thing. Kind of silly in the grand scheme of things I suppose, but to me, it was like…my life was worthless. And it seemed like no matter what I did, no matter how many doctors I saw or how much medicine I took, it just kept getting worse. I hated my life so much, and somehow, I convinced myself that things would be better if I wasn't around. The day I wound up in Shin Makoku, I had decided to just…end it all. I figured the river was deep enough and fast enough that I wouldn't make it out alive, so I just jumped into the river. Next thing I knew, I woke up in this fountain thing, people pointing spears at me and speaking some language I couldn't understand. I had no idea what was going on, but eventually, I came to see that I had been handed a second chance. I'll admit, I didn't want it at first, but then I realized I had been given the chance to do something good with myself." She looked up and gave Yuuri a nervous smile. "I hope I've managed that."

"I think you have," Yuuri said. "Not many people could have brought their country through the things you did. You should be proud of yourself."

Miriam's smile lost its nervous appearance and turned grateful. "Thank you, Yuuri. It means a lot coming from you. I do hope you won't be leaving anytime soon."

Yuuri sighed and shook his head. "I have to go back, I'm afraid. Soon. I mean, who knows how long has gone by on Earth…"

The Maou sighed too, but gave him an understanding look. "Well, just make sure you say goodbye to Wolfram and Odelia before you leave. They're both going to miss you terribly."

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Yuuri stood before the fountain in the freshly-rebuilt Shinou's Temple and took one last look around. This scene was awfully familiar. In fact, aside from the fact that everyone involved was older than they had been last time, and aside from the fact that there were some face there that hadn't been there last time, Yuuri was painfully reminded of the last time he had left Shin Makoku. Last time, it hadn't quite been for good. This time, though…well, it might not be for good, but it was entirely possible that these people, his dear friends, would all be dead by the time he next returned. The thought brought tears to his eyes.

"Take care of yourself, Heika," Gunter said, sniffling back his tears as he gave Yuuri one last hug.

"Whatever else you do, do not think of this as goodbye forever," Gwendal added. "We will meet again someday, I am certain of it."

"Good luck, Yuuri. Safe journey home," Conrad said.

Yozak clapped him on the shoulder Gunter wasn't crying on. "Can I still call you kid after all these years? Ah well, I'll miss you either way."

Gunter finally let go of him and backed away to stand with Gwendal. Ahren and Elric shook his hands, the twins curtsied to him, and then he found himself facing Odelia. She raked her eyes over him, giving him an appraising look. "Well Yuuri…I can finally understand why everybody made such a fuss about you. Try not to stay away so long next time. I don't want to have to explain to my grandkids why I'm an old lady and you're still under thirty, alright?"

Yuuri chuckled. "I don't exactly have control over these things, Odelia."

She snorted and the corner of her mouth twitched up in a wry smile. "Wimp," she muttered, her eyes sparkling.

"Hey, that's my nickname for him," Wolfram teased. "Find your own." Odelia rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let her parents through. Wolfram shook his head sadly. "I suppose this is your fate, Yuuri. To come back to us when we need you the most. I just wish you could have stayed longer."

"I do too. But…well…" Yuuri shrugged helplessly, and Wolfram nodded in understanding before folding him in a warm embrace. "May Shinou continue to smile on you, Yuuri," he whispered before stepping back, the sad smile still fixed on his face.

Miriam reached up and rested a hand on Yuuri's shoulder. "Without you, I could never have been the Maou that I have been. After all, I just built on the foundations you created. Take care of yourself, Yuuri-Heika."

He nodded and stepped back, giving his friends one final look. "Bye, everyone. I'll miss you all," he said once more, before closing his eyes and falling backwards into the fountain.

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"Yuuri! Come on, get up and get out of the road before someone hits you!"

Yuuri coughed and spluttered, raising his head and struggling to his knees as he spit out mouthfuls of water. He felt a pair of hands grab him under the arms and haul him to his feet, and allowed said hands to guide him to the side of the road. "Am I back?" he muttered.

Murata's face appeared before his, brown eyes blinking in confusion behind the round glasses. Then, the former Great Sage's face lit up with understanding, and he grinned. "Finally paid a visit to our friends in Shin Makoku, eh? How was everything there? Is Miriam doing alright as Maou?"

"Oh yeah. Well, everything's fine now, we just finished a war, and Miriam…Miriam…Murata, how do you know about Miriam?"

Murata laughed and slapped Yuuri's back before turning and heading off up the hill, ignoring the rain soaking his clothes and plastering his hair to his head. "Yuuri, have you forgotten that I'm the Great Sage? Shinou isn't the only one who could pick the Maou, after all. Well, when he was still around he was, but we had always agreed that he would choose the Maou to free him, and I would choose the successor. So, was Miriam a good choice? She had a hard time here on Earth, but I thought she had a lot of potential."

Yuuri blinked at his friend, shook his head, and draped his arm over Murata's shoulders. "Well, Murata, a lot happens in ten years. For example, it turns out that fifty years have passed in Shin Makoku. That's a lot of news to catch up on, even for you. So, how about this…you provide me with dinner, and I'll provide you with an update on everything going on in Shin Makoku, including all the pretty girls living in the castle now."

"What? Pretty girls? Aww, Yuuri, why do you get to have all the fun?" Murata groused.

Yuuri laughed and shook Murata playfully. "Yes, because wars and diseases are so much fun. Come on, let's get out of this rain. All will be revealed soon, my friend. I promise."

--- END ---


End file.
